No.l. 


ISSO 


HUDS0N-R1YER-SERIE5 

BY 


Chas.J.BellaTrp^ 


ALBANY    BOOK  COMPANY 

36   STATE  STREET 

ALBANY,   N.Y. 

■'f  JF^^red  as  Second  Class  Matter  at  the  Post  Officr ,  Albany.  N.  Y.  I 


DUKE 

UNIVERSITY 

LIBRARY 


treasure  %oo7n 


r^-' 


AN 


EXPERIMENT  IN  MARRIAGE. 


A  ROMAIS'CE, 


BY 

CHARLES  J.  BELLAMY, 

'a  moment  op 


ALBANY  BOOK  COMPANY, 

36  State  Street, 

albany,  n.  y. 

1889. 


Copyrighted,  1889, 
Br  THE  ALBANY  BOOK  COMPANY. 


ALBANY,  N.Y., 
WEED,   PARSOXS  AND  CO.,    PRINTERS, 
1889. 


:sy35c 


CHAPTER  I; 

In  the  dining-room  of  one  of  the  fashionable  clubs 
of  New  York  two  men  were  just  finishing  a  late  sup- 
per. Thej  had  tal<:en  their  favorite  table  in  the  corner 
near  the  window,  so  that  when  conversation  flagged 
there  were  always  the  busy  streets  to  glance  down  upon, 
streets  ahnost  as  light  in  the  glare  of  the  fierce  electric 
light  by  night  as  by  day  in  sunlight.  Harry  Yinton,  the 
younger  of  the  two,  was  intensely  imaginative,  or  per- 
haps it  was  remarkably  observing.  To  his  mind  eveiy 
individual,  every  group  in  the  crowded  street,  was  a  fit 
subject  for  a  poem  or  a  romance.  Their  stories  they 
carried  in  their  faces,  he  thought,  revealed  them  in 
their  gait,  even  in  the  fit  of  their  garments.  JS'ot  one 
story  of  them  all  was  commonplace.  All  had  their 
elements  of  tragedy,  of  heroic  self-sacrifice,  or  of  dev- 
ilish malignity,  of  grand  philosophy  perhaps,  or  of  de- 
spair utter  and  black  as  everlasting  night. 

His  companion,  John  Ward,  a  professional  idler, 
regarded  Yinton  as  well  nigh  a  necessity  to  make  life 
endurable.  Yinton  was  always  entertaining  to  him, 
always  suggestive,  endowing  the  most  ordinary  scene 
w^ith  interest  of  its  owm,  and  drawing  from  the  most 
prosaic  surroundings  hints  for  conversation  always  full 
of  life,  or  varied  with  endless  discussion  and  disagree- 
ment. :- 

But  on  this  occasion  there  was  no  need  to  glance 
down  into  the  street  for  suggestions  to  conversation. 
So  engaging  was  their  topic  that  they  left  unnoticed 
the  ices  ordered  to  finish  their  meal,  and  those  dainty 


4  An  Expe7'iment  in  Marriage. 

•devices  of  modern  epicureanism  were  slowly  resolving 
themselves  into  their  most  unappetizing  elements  un- 
regarded and  unregretted. 

"I  tell  you,  Ward,"  exclaimed  the  younger  man, 
with  an  emphasis  all  his  own,  ''  You  are  not  looking 
the  situation  fairly  in  the  face.  The  woman  question 
has  not  been  solved,  and  until  it  is  solved,  society  will 
have  to  stay  in  a  bad  way.  Until  the  relations  of  the 
sexes  are  properly  adjusted,  we  can  have  no  real  re- 
form, nor  progress." 

Ward  laughed,  glanced  at  the  door  through  which 
two  tall  gentlemen  were  entering,  and  interrupted  the 
reply  on  his  lips  by  saying:  "  There  is  Bevan ;  I  wish  I 
could  catch  his  eye  and  get  him  over  here.  He's  al- 
ways good  company.  He  has  a  stranger  with  him  I 
see,  probably  a  business  acquaintance.  Bevan  is  al- 
ways thinking  of  money  getting." 

"  Never  mind  Bevan ;  if  you  have  any  thing  to  say 
on  this  woman  question  worth  listening  to,  say  it." 

''  Don't  be  impatient,  Harry,  my  boy.  The  ques- 
tion will  wait  for  us.  It  has  been  waiting  for  a  good 
many  hundred  years.  The  truth  is  it  is  a  hard  thing 
to  ask  of  human  nature,  that  it  will  behave  itself.  For 
my  part  I  don't  expect  any  such  consummation,  so  I 
don't  expect  the  woman  question  ever  to  be  settled." 

"  There  you  go  again  with  your  attempts  to  be  epi- 
grammatic,'' retorted  Yintou,  inipatientl3\  ''  Drop  that 
sort  of  thing,  you  really  should,  if  you  pretend  to  be  a 
seeker  after  truth.  An  epigram  is  always  a  lie.  These 
smooth  sentences  that  round  off  so  delightfully  are 
snares  of  the  evil  one,  set  for  the  unwary,  I  don't  doubt, 
by  the  great  father  of  lies  himself." 

"You  know  you  like  them,  Yinton,"  replied  his 
friend,  satirically.  "  It  istl-e  grief  of  your  life  that  you 
cannot  make  them  yourself  as  well  as  I.  But,  really, 
what  is  the  perversion  of  the  sexual  relation,  which  we 
are  deploring,  but  one  of  the  manifestations  of  original 
sin,  or  whatever  you  heretics  may  choose  to  call  the  in- 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  6 

born  disposition  of  humanity  to  do  wrong  whenever  it 
has  a  chance.  We  steal,  we  cheat,  we  defraud,  we  kill, 
because  we  are  bad.  We  are  a  bad  lot,  mj  boy,  and  I 
regret  to  say  I  see  no  promise  of  our  improving.  The 
faults  of  society  are  the  faults  of  the  souls  and  con- 
sciences belonging  to  the  men  and  women  who  make 
up  society.  The  relations  of  husbands  to  their  wives, 
or  of  wives  to  their  husbands,  are  so  unsatisfying,  so 
disappointing,  because  men  and  women  do  not  cease  to 
be  men  and  women  and  become  angels  when  they 
marry.  Marriage  is  no  more,  as  it  is  no  less  a  failure 
than  the  other  relations  of  mankind.  Marriage  is  a 
failure  because  human  nature  is  a  failure." 

"  But  compare  lovers  before  marriage  with  the  mar- 
ried men  and  women.  Indeed,  the  very  word  'lovers' 
is  almost  exclusively  appropriated  for  the  ante-nuptial 
period.  The  lover  is  what  a  man  and  woman  might 
always  be  in  relation  to  each  other.  The  average  mar- 
riage illustrates  what  they  should  not  be." 

''  Carry  your  comparison  a  little  farther,  my  dear 
Harry.  Examine  your  lover  at  the  beginning  and  at 
the  end  of  a  long  engagement.  He  soon  ceases  his 
unselfish  devotion,  and  exchanges  his  adoring  attitude 
for  one  of  famihar,  and  half-contemptuous  criticism." 

"  Of  course  what  is  true  of  the  married  state  is  true 
of  long  engagements.  The  latter  unite  all  the  restraints 
with  none  of  the  consolations  of  marriage.  But  I  think 
that  there  are  just  enough  exceptions  to  the  rnle  of 
cooling  lovers,  and  estranged  husbands  and  wives,  to 
prove  that  it  may  be  because  the  relations  of  the  sexes 
are  distorted  that  they  yield  so  little  harmony,  that 
men  and  women  might  be  to  each  other  after  marriage 
what  lovers  now  dream,  if if " 

'^  If  we  were  all  angels  or  .saints,"  interrupted  Ward. 

Then  he  turned  half  around  in  his  chair  so  that  he 
could  see  the  table  where  the  two  gentlemen  who  had 
lately  entered  were  sitting.  "They  are  just  finishing 
a  Welsh  rare-bit.     Suppose  we  ask  Bevan  to  bring  his 


6  An  Ex])erimeiit  in  Marriage. 

friend  over  here.  Four  heads  are  better  than  two,  and 
this  is  a  hard  task  we  are  essaying  to-night." 

Yin  ton  nodded  his  head  in  assent,  and  Ward  crossed 
over  to  the  table  where  Mr.  Be  van  and  the  stranger 
were  sitting.  Yinton  saw  Ward  bow  to  the  stranger, 
who  rose  from  his  chair  with  great  cordiahtj  in  re- 
sponse to  the  introduction.  Then  the  three  gentlemen, 
followed  by  the  w^aiter  with  pencil  and  wine-card,  ap- 
proached the  table  in  the  corner  where  three  vacant 
chairs  and  one  ready  tongue  awaited  them. 

For  a  few  minutes  after  the  addition  to  the  party 
in  the  corner  the  conversation  was  strictly  conven- 
tional. It  was  of  course  first  necessary  to  make  Yinton 
acquainted  with  Mr.  Bevan's  companion,  a  man  of 
about  thirty,  tall,  and  distinguished  in  bearing,  and 
graceful  in  manner.  He  was  introduced  as  a  dealer  in 
California  grapes  and  wines,  a  frequent  visitor  to  New 
York,  where  he  came  to  dispose  of  enormous  quanti- 
ties of  those  toothsome  articles  of  merchandise. 

"My  friend  Gillette,"  began  Mr.  Bevan,  as  the 
waiter  filled  the  four  glasses  with  California  Moselle, 
ordered  out  of  special  compliment  to  the  visitor  — 
"  My  friend  Gillette's  grapes  might  have  been  grown  in 
one  vineyard,  and  his  wines  have  come  from  one  cellar, 
they  run  so  remarkably  alike.  Bat  of  course  there  is 
no  single  producer  who  could  have  such  an  enormous 
output  to  offer  for  sale.  He  is  a  very  mysterious  fel- 
low, is  my  friend  Gillette,  and  I  understand  no  more 
about  him  now  than  I  did  three  years  ago,  when  I 
bought  my  first  lot  of  him.  It  was  only  a  tenth  as 
large  as  the  invoice  I  took  to-day,  eh  Gillette  %  " 

"  Next  year  I  Jiope  to  have  twice  as  much  to  sell 
you.  But  why  talk  business  longer?"  And  Gillette 
cast  an  apologetic  glance  at  the  two  gentlemen  to 
whom  he  had  just  been  introduced.  "  You  and  I 
have  made  our  bargain,  and,  what  is  very  rare  in  this 
selfish  city,  are  both  satisfied.  Why  annoy  these 
gentlemen  with  our  mercenary  dealings  %  " 


An  Exjperiraent  in  Marriage,  7 

"  I  assure  you,' '  interposed  Yinton  with  liis  pecu- 
liarly magnetic  smile,  "  if  there  is  any  mystery  likely 
to  be  solved  there  is  nothing  could  |)lease  my  friend 
Ward  and  myself  more." 

"  Xow,  Gillette,  is  a  golden  opportunity  for  you," 
said  Mr.  Bevan.  "  Reveal  your  mystery.  Do  you 
know  I  always  suspected  you  of  being  the  dictator  of 
some  little  realm  in  an  unknown  corner  of  our  wild 
West,  where  grapes  grow  for  the  asking,  and  whose 
people  work  for  love  of  you." 

"  If  you  had  said  for  love  of  each  other,"  remarked 
Gillette,  with  a  peculiar  inflection,  "  you  would  have 
better  described  it  —  that  is,  have  better  described  a 
model  state  of  society."  Then  in  a  sudden  change  of 
voice,  "  but  I  positively  decline  to  constitute  myself 
the  hero  of  this  conversation.  Didn't  Mr.  Ward  say, 
as  he  invited  us  to  join  you,  that  help  was  wanted  to 
settle  some  very  abstruse  question  ? " 

"  We  were  discussing  the  relations  of  the  sexes," 
remarked  Yinton,  after  a  short  pause.  Then  he  lifted 
his  sparkling  glass.  His  companions  imitated  him, 
and  then  waited  before  tasting  the  wine  until  the 
young  man  should  offer  the  expected  toast.  '^  Here  is 
to  woman,  who  might  be  the  greatest  force  for  good 
and  happiness."  The  four  glasses  were  drained  and 
set  down  as  Yinton  added  :     ' '  But  is  not." 

"  How  far  have  you  progressed  ?"  asked  Gillette,  lean- 
ing across  the  table  with  very  noticeable  interest.  Then 
with  a  keen  glance  from  Yinton  to  Ward,  he  added : 
"  I  am  under  the  impression  you  did  not  come  very 
near  agreeing." 

Bevan  laughed.  ^' You  will  have  to  look  out  for  my 
friend   Gillette.     He's  a  great  guesser,  an  intuitist." 

Ward  waited  an  instant  for  Yinton  to  state  their  re- 
spective positions,  but  as  tiie  latter  seemed  in  no  haste 
to  speak,  volunteered  the  fohowing  : 

"  Yinton  thinks  married  men  and  women  should  al- 
ways be  to  each  other  as  the  same  individuals  when 


8  A7i  .Experiment  in  Marriage. 

first  lovers.     I  say  tliat  could  only  be  expected  if  we 
were  all  angels,  or  at  least  saints." 

"Yery  good,  Ward,"  assented  the  younger  man, 
with  an  appreciative  look  at  his  friend.  "If  you  can 
analyze  and  state  our  several  positions  as  well  when 
the  evening  is  over,  you  will  deserve  to  be  crowned 
with  the  laurel." 

"  Yes,"  said  Gillette,  "Mr.  Ward  has  set  Bevanand 
myself  on  the  scratch  with  yourself.  Now,  how  ehall 
we  get  to  work  ?     Shall  we  all  talk  at  once  ?  " 

"  First,  let  James,  here,  fill  our  glasses,"  interposed 
Yinton.  "James,  where  are  you  ?  That's  right.  Kow 
please  watch  these  glasses,  James,  and  see  that  they 
are  kept  filled.  We  shall,  all  of  us,  be  too  much  ab- 
sorbed in  thinking  what  we  shall  say  next  to  notice  our 
glasses.  When  this  bottle  is  empty  bring  another,  and 
so  on." 

"As  to  the  method  of  the  conversation,"  suggested 
Mr.  Ward,  "  I  must  say  I  always  like  decency  and  good 
order.  How  would  it  be  for  each  one,  in  turn,  to  state 
his  views  ?  This  is  a  subject  upon  which  every  one 
has  views.  This  part  of  the  programme  should  be  free 
from  interruptions,  except  when  James,  here,  makes 
us  sign  our  names  to  the  orders  for  more  wine.  Then, 
after  each  has  had  his  turn,  let  there  be  all  the  cross- 
questioning  desired,  if  the  night  is  long  enough." 

"  Good  again,"  said  Yinton,  "  and  let  Mr.  Bevan 
begin.  He  is  sure  to  be  practical,  and  will  doubtless 
set  a  healthy  pace  for  us." 

"And  you,"  continued  Ward,  looking  at  Yinton, 
"  for  the  sake  of  variety,  you  should  come  next.  You 
may  safely  be  trusted  not  to  agree  with  Bevan.  Then 
I  will  follow  you  with  all  the  conservative  force  I  can 
muster.  The  place  of  honoi*,  the  close,  we  will  leave 
for  our  visitor  from  the  land  of  grapes  and  wine.  Let 
us  drink  once  to  Mr.  Gillette  and  his  domain,  and  then 
to  business." 

As  the  glasses  were  set  down  for  the  attention  of 


An  Experiment  m  Marriage.  9 

the  faithful  James,  Mr.  Bevan  cleared  his  throat,  and 
began  :  "As  "Ward  says,  every  man  can  talk  on  the 
woman  question.  From  the  time  we  first  notice  the 
cropping  of  a  beard  on  our  chins  until  we  return  to 
our  second  childhood,  we  devote  a  good  share  of  our 
thoughts  to  women,  and  sometimes  so  much  of  our  talk 
that  we  are  ashamed  of  it.  I  think  the  man  shows  him- 
self the  most  sensible  who  keeps  poetry  and  romance  out 
of  his  head  as  much  as  possible,  where  women  are  con- 
cerned. The  biggest  fool  in  the  world  is  the  man  who 
falls  heels  over  head  in  love.  Everybody  laughs  at 
him.  Everybody  ridicules  him,  and  well  they  may. 
He  is  stark  staring  mad.  Even  the  woman  he  worships 
usually  joins  in  the  general  merrymaking  at  Ms  ex- 
pense. She  cannot  but  see  what  an  idiot  her  pretty 
face,  or  likely  enongh  it  is  a  liomely  one,  has  made  of 
the  young  man.  Young  man  indeed !  Why  an  old 
lover  is  more  of  a  spectacle  than  a  young  one.  No 
time  of  life  to  be  sure  is  safe  from  this  acute  attack 
of  insanity,  and  repeated  attacks  come  usually  with  in- 
creased virulence.  The  only  consoling  feature  of  the 
peculiar  mental  derangement  called  love  is  that  its  du- 
ration is  very  short.  It  is  cured  in  various  ways,  but 
the  best  remedy  of  all  is  continued  exposure  to  the 
contagious  influence.  Marriage  will  cure  the  most 
acute  case  in  a  very  few  weeks.  If  marriage  is  not  a 
convenient  or  practical  remedy,  try  familiarity.  Give 
the  patient  the  utmost  possible  intimacy  with  the  ob- 
ject of  his  insane  delusion.  This  is  one  of  the  few 
diseases,  one  of  the  very  few  mental  disturbances,  for 
which  the  doctors  can  safely  warrant  a  complete  cure 
or  money  refunded,  always  provided  dose  is  taken  as 
ordered."  «, 

Everybody  laughed,  Woird  heartily,  Yinton  grudg- 
ingly. 

Then  Mr.  Bevan,  looking  somewhat  pleased  at  the 
success  of  his  effort,  continued  in  a  somewhat  different 
vein. 


10  An  Exjperirjnent  in  Marriage, 

"  But  if  we  look  in  a  cool  and  healthy  state  of  mind, 
and,  shall  I  add  of  bod)^  ?  at  woman,  there  is  no  occa- 
sion for  ns  to  fret  ourselves  over  the  problem.  For 
my  part  I  don't  see  any  problem.  When  a  man  mar- 
ries a  sensible  woman  of  similar  tastes  to  his  own,  and 
of  congenial  disposition,  he  has  simply  provided  him- 
self with  a  housekeeper  and  a  mother  to  his  children. 
He  must  not  expect  she  will  want  him  to  sit  at  her 
feet  and  read  poetry  to  her  when  he  should  be  at  his 
business,  and  she  at  her  marketing.  He  mustn't  expect 
she  will  keep  on  telling  him  what  a  classic  profile  he 
has,  or  that  his  voice  thrills  her  as  she  hears  him  cahing 
up  the  stairs  that  he  would  like  to  know  what  the  con- 
founded women  in  this  house  have  done  with  his  hat." 

"This  is  blasphemy,"  interjected  Yinton  with  an 
uneasy  laugh. 

"No  interruptions,"  insisted  Ward,  and  the  speaker 
continued. 

"I  am  afraid  lam  not  discussing  the  woman  ques- 
tion as  philosophically  as  my  company  would  like," 
suggested  Mr.  Bevan,  moistening  his  lips  with  the 
wine.  "  If  cheap  talk  like  mine  is  out  of  place  in  the 
presence  of  this  awful  theme,  just  say  so,  somebody, 
and  I  will  yield  the  floor." 

"  You're  intensely  practical,"  remarked  Gillette  in  a 
tone  that  attracted  a  sharp  look  from  Yinton;  "  from 
your  standpoint,  I  mean.  At  this  stage  of  the  discus- 
sion nothing,  I  think,  could  be  more  helpful." 

"  Go  ahead,  by  all  means,"  added  AVard,  with  an 
amused  glance  at  Yinton's  disgusted  face. 

"  Well,"  continued  Mr.  Bevan,  "  I  have  not  much 
more  to  say.  Yet  there  is  something  so  alluring  about 
the  subject  that  I  befeeve  I  could  drift  on  all  night.  A 
husband  must  not^expect  that  his  wife  will  like  all  his 
club  friends  or  his  club  jokes.  She  will  always  prefer 
to  talk  gossip,  or  discuss  servant  girls,  to  politics  or 
the  money  market.  She  will  always  enjoy  shopping, 
which  we  abhor,  elaborate   dressing,  which  we  hate, 


An  £/xperiment  in  Marriage,  11 

and  all  sorts  of  pomps  and  vanities  wliicli  the  well 
organized  of  the  male  sex  despise.  The  more  thoroughly 
a  husband  recovers  from  the  false  ideas  and  impossible 
expectations  born  and  cultivated  during  that  brief 
frenzy  called  courtship,  the  better  he  will  enjoy  his 
wife  and  his  home  after  marriage.  It  seems  to  be  the 
proper  and  the  necessary  thing  for  a  man  to  fall  in 
love,  and  go  daft  over  the  imaginary  goddess  concealed 
in  woman.  When  a  man,  be  he  young  or  old,  married 
or  single,  is  in  this  condition,  he  is  to  be  pitied,  not  to 
be  maliciously  scoffed  at  or  ridiculed,  for  he  is  sensi- 
tive, and  on  other  subjects  comparatively  sane.  Besides, 
no  human  being  is  safe  from  similar  attacks,  and  the 
scoffer  of  to-day  is  liable  to  be  the  scoffed  at  of  to-mor- 
row. A  man  in  this  condition  —  and  doubtless  a  woman 
in  love  is  just  as  foolish  —  is  likel^y  enough  to  sacrifice 
position,  fame,  honor,  duty,  independence,  every  thing 
to  his  frenzy.  Let  us  make  allowances  for  the  acts  of 
the  madman,  throw  a  cloak  over  his  sins.  But  cer- 
tainly, gentlemen,  there  is  no  good  reason  why  we 
should  believe  him  when  he  claims  that  it  is  he  Avho  is 
sane,  and  the  rest  of  us  who  are  beside  ourselves. 
Surely  there  is  no  sense  in  listening  to  his  erotic  rav- 
ings and  maudlin  rhapsodies  as  the  true  revelation  as 
to  what  men  and  women  can  be  and  should  be  to  each 
other.     Bevan  has  spoken." 

There  was  silence  for  a  moment  as  Mr.  Bevan  drained 
his  glass,  and  watched  James  replenish  it.  Then  Gil- 
lette remarked  quite  seriously:  "You  are  actually  a 
worse  Philistine  even  than  I  suspected.  You  ought 
to  be  preserved  in  alcohol,  a  curious  specimen  of  nine- 
teenth century  civilization." 

Yinton  watched  Gillette  with  great  interest  as  he 
made  the  remark.  Ward  glanced  at  the  clock  which 
stood  over  the  fireplace  just  behind  Mr.  Bevan,  and 
suddenly  exclaimed  :  "It  is  growing  late.  We  must 
not  waste  a  minute.  It  is  your  turn  next,  Yinton. 
Answer  the  reviler." 


12  An  Ex;periinent  in  Marriage, 

Yinton  waited  for  no  second  prompting,  but  rushed 
into  the  subject  in  his  own  impetuous,  almost  impatient 
fashion.  "  I  am  glad  Bevan  spoke  first.  He  has  saved 
me  the  trouble  of  describing  the  prevailing  scepticism 
as  to  the  scope  and  meaning  of  love.  He  is  a  living, 
breathing  example  of  the  shocking  degradation  which 
the  sexual  ideal  has  reached." 


CHAPTER  II. 

*'Our  friend  Bevan,"  continued  Vinton,  *' is  no 
worse  tlian  the  average  man.  Wliat  he  says  about 
woman,  the  average  man  would  say  if  he  could  ex- 
press himself  as  well.  The  attitude  of  Bevan  toward 
the  sex  is  that  of  the  average  man,  responded  to  in 
kind  by  most  women.  These  are  the  facts  which  make 
t.he  problem  so  serious.  Society  is  overwhelmed 
with  despair.  Marriage  is  described  as  a  lottery,  love 
as  a  delusion.  But  I  do  not  for  a  minute  believe  that 
harai onions  and  ennobling  relations  between  the  sexes 
have  ceased  to  be  possible.  I  believe  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  an  ideal  marriage.  I  have  seen  many  instances 
of  it.  So  must  jou  all.  I  have  seen  husbands,  who, 
after  ten  years  of  married  life,  were  as  much  lovers  as 
the  hour  they  were  accepted;  wives  to  whose  adoring 
eyes  their  husbands  continued  to  be  perfection ;  hus- 
bands and  wives  whose  hearts  always  glowed  at  tlie  ap- 
proach of  each  other,  whose  whole  natures  seemed  ever 
stimulated  into  their  highest  attributes  in  each  other's 
presence.  Such  husbands  and  wives  live  ideal  lives. 
Suffering  and  pain  but  serve  to  drive  them  closer  to 
each  other's  arms,  sorrows  to  teach  them  the  rare  sweet- 
ness of  giving  and  receiving  perfect  consolation,  mis- 
fortunes to  offer  complete  conviction  of  the  blessedness 
and  all  sufficiency  of  love.  These  instances  are  excep- 
tional, but  they  prove  conclusively  how  glorifying,  how 
ennobling  the  relations  of'  the  sexes  may  be.  It  is  just 
such  a  perfect  relation  each  ardent  pair  of  lovers  ex- 
pects. The  failures  of  countless  thousands  go  for  noth- 
ing to  them.     They  have  perfect  faith  that  their  love 


14  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

is  purer  and  more  eternal  than  tliat  of  others,  that  the 
fond  dreams  of  their  hearts  will  be  fulfilled,  and  their 
married  life  prove  an  earthly  paradise.  Poor  fools,  we 
say,  and  we  watch  their  ardors  waning  with  their  honey- 
moon, we  overhear  their  first  cross  words,  notice  the 
silence  that  befalls  when  they  are  alone,  in  place  of  the 
eager  flood  of  talk  of  earlier  days,  the  small  rudenesses 
and  petty  neglects  growing  more  frequent  with  time, 
the  thousand  signs  of  weariness  and  lack  of  mutual 
sympathy  and  good  will.  They  too  have  drawn  blanks. 
They  both  mean  well.  They  both  are  miserable  over 
the  wreck  of  their  hopes  of  marital  felicity.  Nothing 
would  so  win  their  gratitude  as  to  tell  them  some 
method  to  regain  the  elusive  passion  which  promised  to 
make  their  two  lives  a  pathway  of  flowers.  A  whole 
school  of  writers  wins  its  bread  by  preaching  to  dis- 
appointed husbands  and  wives,  by  dispensing  maxims 
which,  if  faithfully  followed,  will,  it  is  claimed,  coax  back 
the  erring  Cupid  to  gild  their  lives  with  poetry  and 
romance  once  more.  But  they  might  as  well  attempt  to 
warm  into  new  life  the  body  of  a  drowned  man,  to  make 
the  cold  charcoal  left  from  yesterday's  fire  glow  and 
crackle  of  itself.  These  disappointed  husbands  and  wives 
have  made  dreadful  mistakes,  and  must  suffer  for  them 
the  rest  of  their  lives.  They  will  doubtless  patch  up  some 
new  and  commonplace  relation  of  comj^anionship,  of 
friendship,  of  partnership,  but  they  can  no  more  fall  in 
love  with  each  other  again,  than  they  could  keep  so  by 
main  force.  Yet  they  will  commonly  keej)  up  the  man- 
nerisms of  lovers,  call  each  other  pet  names,  but  alas,  in 
very  matter-of-fact  tones  of  voice,  kiss  each  other  at 
meeting  and  parting,  but  what  a  travesty  on  the  kiss 
of  love  which  once  they  exchanged." 

Yinton  paused  for  a  moment,  and  swallowed  half  a 
glass  of  wine.  A  peculiar  solemnity  had  taken  the 
place  of  the  merriment  evoked  by  Mr.  Bevan's  little 
statement  of  creed.  Ward  seemed  loath  to  have  his 
friend  leave  the  theme  where  it  was,  and  incpiired : 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  15 

"  Which  do  you  blame,  the  man  or  the  woman  ? " 
Vinton  finished  his  glass  before  replying. 

"Blame  for  what?  Because  their  marriage  is  a 
failure  ?  ^  Why,  I  tell  you  either  of  them  would  have 
been  willing  to  give  an  arm  if  the  lover's  dream  might 
be  reahzed  for  them  in  married  life.  Their  vision, 
however,  refuses  to  materiahze.  Blame  them,  indeed  ! 
They  have  their  punishment  whether  they  deserved 
one  or  not.  Their  feelings  are  such  as  an  epicure 
might  have,  if  a  basket  of  the  rarest  grapes  from  Mr. 
Gillette's  vineyard  were  first  placed  before  him  so  he 
should  take  their  perfume  and  his  appetite  be  excited, 
then  just  as  he  reached  forth  his  hand  to  carry  ^  cluster 
of  the  luscious  beauties  to  his  mouth,  basket  and  all 
should  be  caught  forever  away.  The  epicure  is  not  to 
blame.  From  the  perfume  and  appearance  of  the 
grapes  he  might  well  count  on  a  perfect  feast.  But 
the  basket  was  not  for  him.  Those  lovers  who  find 
marriage  a  failure,  and,  accordingly,  life  itself  pretty 
nearly  one,  were  not  so  mistaken  in  their  lofty  ideas  of 
what  marriage  might  be.  Their  mistake  is  in  tlieir 
choice.  The  poets  tell  us  there  is  some  one  woman 
fitted  to  be  the  perfect  mate  for  eacn  man.  Very 
likely  there  are  many  women  in  the  world  adapted  to 
make  any  man  happy  and  to  be  made  happy  by  him. 
Marriage  is  so  generally  a  failure,  and  the  sexual  rela- 
tion as  a  force  for  progress  and  education  so  generally 
perverted  to  be  merely  an  excitant  of  base  passions  and 
degrading  lusts,  because  those  who  could  make  each 
other  true  husbands  and  wives  seldom,  according  to 
the  inexorable  law  of  chances,  meet  under  circumstances 
to  recognize  each  other." 

Mr.  Ward  did  not  wait  to  be  informed  that  his  turn 
had  come,  but  began  as  follows  :  "Bevan  and  Yinton 
agree  as  to  one  of  their  conclusions,  and  I  cannot  do 
better  than  agree  with  both  disputants  that  married 
people  generally  cease  to  be  lovei's.  Bevan  thinks 
this  is  a  proper  and  natural  course  of  affairs,  and  that 


16  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

love  is  a  sort  of  emotional  insanity.  I  cannot  agree 
with  him  in  this.  Yinton  thinks  that  marriage  is  so 
generally  a  faihire  because  the  right  people  commonly 
fail  to  marry  each  other.  Here  I  cannot  agree  with 
him.  I  do  not  say  that  every  married  man  and  woman 
can  be  expected  to  continue  lovers.  There  are  numer- 
ous cases  of  utter  incompatibility  which  necessarily  re- 
sult in  making  husband  and  wife  a  constant  annoyance 
to  each  other.  But  I  believe  that  the  man  and  woman, 
who,  after  a  reasonable  acquaintance  and  courtship,  de- 
cide to  marry,  convinced  that  they  can  make  each  other 
happy,  are  very  able  to  fulfill  those  expectations,  always 
provided  that  they  show  decent  common  sense  and 
proper  unselfishness.  The  follies  committed  by  the 
young  husband  and  wife  during  the  first  few  months 
of  married  life  pass  common  credence.  It  is  not  so 
much  a  wonder  that  they  often  lose  their  love  and  sen- 
timent for  each  other,  as  that  there  are  cases  where 
they  always  continue  lovers.  If  we  have  a  friend  whom 
we  are  very  anxious  to  keep,  we  are  a  thousand  times 
more  considerate  and  careful  in  our  demeanor  toward 
him  than  the  average  husband  is  in  his  behavior  toward 
a  newly-wedded  wife.  The  manner  of  the  young  hus- 
band to  his  bride  is  a  queer  compound  of  fatuous  con- 
fidence and  insulting  distrust.  He  wants  her  to  con- 
tinue to  be  as  devoted,  as  reverent  as  in  those  first 
dreamy  days  after  their  betrothal.  But,  himself,  he  in- 
dulges in  selfish  weakaesses  to  which  he  never  gave 
way  before.  He  treats  the  woman  he  has  married  as 
if  she  were  his  slave,  and  her  bondage  perpetual,  so 
that  he  need  no  longer  care  to  show  himself  at  his 
best.  He  is  more  like  a  spoiled  child  than  a  fully- 
grown  and  disciplined  man,  to  whom  are  offered  new 
possibilities  of  sympathy,  appreciation,  and  inspiration 
to  a  higher  life.  When  i.  woman  shows  disappoint- 
ment at  the  change  in  him  whom  she  had  thought  so 
god-like  as  her  lover,  he  forgets  his  own  faults,  and 
convinces  himself  that  she  does  not  love  him.     His 


An  Experiment  iii  Marriage.  17 

heart  is  filled  with  bitterness  and  despair.     I  used  the 
case  when  the  husband  is  the  thoughtless,  inconsiderate 
one,  and  the  wife  is  the  sufferer.     Just  as  often  it  is 
the  husband  who  is  the   sufferer,  and   the  wife  who 
ceases  to  be   adorable.     Usually  both  are   guilty  and 
both  are  sufferers.     Their  faults  act  and  re-act  until 
another  marriage  has  become  a  palpable  failure.     As 
lovers  they  call  forth  what  is  best  in  each  other,  dis- 
close hidden  virtues,  stimulate  unguessed  powers,  un- 
dreamed   of  graces.     Neither  may   have   seemed  es- 
pecially admirable  to  the  world  in  general.     It  is  only 
to  the  other  that  each  one  yields  sweetness  and  light. 
To  each  other,  as  lovers,  they  are  really  adorable.    The 
sudden  fruition  of  marriage  it  is  which  seems  to  have 
changed   every  thing.     For  a  few  days  they  riot  in 
each  other's  expanding  natures.     The  whole  of  their 
lives  might  be  the  same,  but  on  condition  that  both 
should   continue  to  give   forth    only   their   best,  that 
both  should  suppress  the  base,  the  selfish,  the  ignoble. 
They  should  at  once  educate  and  enjoy  each  other. 
Sexual  love  should  be  the  great  religious  force  of  our 
existence.     As  Yin  ton  says,  we  all  of  us  know  instan- 
ces where  love  is  all  I  describe  to  the  happy  married 
man  and  woman  who  have  not  been  blind  to  its  pos- 
sibihties.     The  average  human  nature  is  not,  however, 
fine  and  strong  enough  to  endure  the  strain  of  continu- 
ing the  lover  attitude  through  life.     A  few  weeks, 
with  occasional  lapses  at  that,  mark  the  capacity  of  the 
ordinary  man  and  woman  for  that  ideal  relation  of  the 
sexes  which  brings  out  all  that  is  best  and  most  satisfy- 
ing in  each  other.     When  the  tension  is  released  the 
groveling  tendency  of  mankind  shows  itself.      Mar- 
riage is  a  failure  because  the  man  and  woman  nature 
is  as  yet  incapable  of  the  sustained  elevation  of  char- 
acter which  comes  at  the  beginning  of  sexual  love,  and, 
alas,  usually  goes  with  it." 

Bevan  rose  suddenly  to  his  feet,  watch  in  hand.    "  It 
is  twelve  o'clock  and  I  must  positively  leave  you.     I 
3 


18  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

would  like  to  sit  here  and  discuss  this  subject  all  night, 
but  I  can't  do  it." 

"  I  see  the  steward  is  eyeing  us  somewhat  uneasily," 
exclaimed  Yinton,  pushing  back  his  chair.  "  He  ap- 
parently wants  to  sleep,  however  we  may  feel.  To  hear 
Mr.  Gillette's  views  we  must  go  elsewhere." 

"  Don't  let  me  put  you  to  so  much  trouble,  gentle- 
meu,"  urged  Gillette  with  a  pleasant  smile.  ^'  Let 
me  tell  my  story  at  my  nex*t  visit  to  !N^ew  York."  By 
this  time  all  the  gentlemen  had  risen,  and  the  steward's 
countenance  lost  its  melancholy  expression  as  they 
moved  slowly  toward  the  door.  Bevan  and  Yinton 
were  in  advance,  Ward  and  Gillette  behind. 

Ward  laid  his  hand  lightly  on  his  companion's  arm. 
"  We  haven't  the  least  idea  of  letting  you  off,  Mr.  Gil- 
lette. I  speak  for  Yinton  and  myself.  Bevan  there  is 
a  man  of  business,  and  social  delights  are  mere  by-play 
to  him.  Yinton,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a  literary  man, 
a  writer  of  novels.  To  him  a  new  idea  is  treasure- 
trove.  He  Avould  willingly  turn  night  into  day  for  a 
week,  if  he  might  find  one  suggestion  such  as  a  man 
like  you,  with  diffei'ent  associations  from  ours,  will  be 
sure  to  give.  As  for  myself  I  am  a  professional  idler, 
a  searcher  into  all  sorts  of  unanswerable  cpiestious,  any 
thing  to  make  me  forget  I  am  not  busy.  You  can't 
escape  us." 

^'  But  Bevan  says  he  is  going  home,"  laughed  Gil- 
lette, as  he  put  on  his  tall  hat,  just  recovered  from  the 
sleepy  check  clerk. 

"  He  takes  the  '  elevated '  at  the  second  corner  from 
here.  Suppose  we  walk  to  the  station  with  him,  and 
send  him  home,  in  the  pleasing  but  erroneous  notion 
that  he  has  done  his  whole  duty.  Then  for  some  quiet 
'  always  open '  beer  saloon,  and  the  extraction  of  your 
ideas  on  the  woman  question." 

Bevan  and  Yinton  were  close  at  hand  by  the  time 
Ward  had  made  his  proposal  to  the  visitor  from  the 
West,  and  so  the  latter  had  no  opportunity  to  reply. 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  19 

But  lie  permitted  "Ward  and  Bevan  to  lead  tlie  way  to 
the  elevated  railroad  station,  although  his  liotel  lay  in 
the  opposite  direction,  and  when  Bevan  had  been  sent 
steaming  iip-town,  with  a  light  conscience  and  a  sense 
of  duty  performed,  Mr.  Gillette  turned  to  Yinton  and 
said  * 

"  Your  friend  has  betrayed  you  into  a  scrape,  Mr. 
Yinton..  He  insists  that  yon,  as  well  as  he,  would  like 
to  hear  my  ideas  on  the  sexual  relation." 

"  Delightful,"  exclaimed  Yinton  with  unmistakable 
enthusiasm.  "  I  suspected  what  Bevan  would  say  on 
the  subject,  I  knew  what  my  friend  Ward  would  say. 
But  you  will  introduce  a  new  element  into  the  discus- 
sion. You  will  say  something  we  have  not  thought  of. 
Where  shall  we  go.  Ward  ? " 

''  Excuse  me,"  interposed  Gillette  before  Ward 
could  reply.  "  ^ew  York  streets  have  not  lost  their 
interest  for  me.  If  you  do  not  very  much  care  to  go 
inside,  what  do  you  say  to  walking  as  we  talk?  The 
streets  are  *  always  open '  too,  you  know." 

''Let  me  be  the  pilot,"  said  Yinton.  "  I  am  a  great 
lover  of  the  streets  of  New  York.  Instead  of  weary- 
ing me  it  seems  as  if  they  excited  me  more  and  more. 
Tlie  intensity  of  the  life  that  throbs  in  the  very  air 
here  is  positive  pain  sometimes.  But  it  thrills  me. 
It  gives  me  sensations.  It  breeds  an  endless  succes- 
sion of  thoughts  and  of  sympathies." 

So  Yinton  took  Gillette's  right  arm,  and  Ward  his 
left.  They  then  started  on  a  walk  fated  to  have  very 
momentous  consequences  to  the  two  gentlemen  of 
Xew  York. 

"  From,  what  you  two  gentlemen  have  said  I  see 
that  you  believe  what  I  have  come  to  know !  That 
is,  that  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  in  life,  if  not  the 
greatest  of  all  blessings,  is  sexual  love.  You  are  un- 
happy over  the  rarity  of  the  lover  in  married  life,  caus- 
ing the  so  common  failure  of  marriage  and  the  home, 
in  this  the  most  polished  age  of  modern  civilization 


20  A?i  Exjyeriment  in  Marriage, 

and  of  human  progress.  Bevan  is  an  unbeliever  in 
the  scope  and  office  of  this  love.  The  modern  man  of 
the  world  has  grown  to  believe  that  woman  can  only 
serve  a  man  by  gratifying  his  lusts ;  that  love  is  noth- 
ing but  desire  for  physical  pleasure,  and  once  sated  dies 
as  a  matter  of  course.  But  I  can  see  that  3^ou  believe 
as  I  do,  that  in  this  love  the  soul  finds  its  best  ex- 
pression, its  religion  ;  the  mind,  its  best  stimulus ; 
the  spirit,  our  real  inner  self,  its  wings.  You  believe 
this  from  your  memory  of  love's  young  dream,  its 
glory,  its  sacredness,  its  marvelous  expanding  power. 
When  the  lovers  have  found  what  should  be  fruition  in 
marriage,  you  have  seen  them  for  the  most  part  cease 
to  be  lovei-s.  Yet  you  have  faith ;  I  believe  because  I 
have  seen." 

Gillette  paused  for  an  instant,  and  Yinton  ex- 
claimed :  "  You  mean  you  have  seen  cases  of  married 
lovers  whose  passion,  if  you  may  call  it  so,  increased 
with  increase  of  years ;  who  were  eternal  joys  to  each 
other,  as  well  as  inspirations.  So  have  I,  so  has 
AYard." 

"  I  mean  more  than  that,"  answered  Gillette,  slowly. 
He  seemed  hesitating  w^iether  he  should  go  further. 
But  he  continued  :  ''  I  know  a  spot  where  marriage  is 
all  that  it  ought  to  be  here.  It  is  a  lovers'  paradise. 
I  am  willing  to  tell  you  about  it  if  you  wish  it." 

To  say  that  Ward  and  Yinton  were  taken  aback  by 
this  bold  statement  from  their  new  acquaintance  was  a 
feeble  expression.  Was  the  man  so  much  affected  by 
the  wine?  Ward  recovered  his  presence  of  mind 
first. 

"  A  fancy  sketch,  I  suppose.  By  all  means  give  it 
to  us." 

"No,  but  a  real  description  of  a  real  society,"  an- 
swered Gillette,  not  without  some  amusement  at  the 
apparent  shock  he  had  given  his  companions.  "Mr. 
Bevan,  you  will  remember,  spok'e  of  me  as  selling 
grapes  and  wine  in  large  and  yearly  increasing  quanti- 


A71  Exj>erime7it  in  Marriage.  21 

ties.  I  am  the  eastern  selling  agent  of  a  settlement 
which  we  call  Grape  Valley.  It  is  on  no  map,  but  a 
thousand  men,  beside  women  and  children,  live  there 
an  ideal  life,  because  love  has  its  perfect  work.  Our 
numbers  are  constantly  increasing  through  our  projDa- 
ganda.  So  it  is  that  we  have  more  grapes  and  wine 
to  sell  each  year.  With  the  price  of  our  products  we 
buy  in  your  markets  such  articles  as  our  minds  and 
bodies  may  need." 

"A  socialistic  society,  of  course?"  queried  Ward 
with  an  assumed  calmness. 

"  As  you  say,  of  course,"  replied  Gillette.  "  You 
may  well  believe  that  if  a  social  system  be  set  up  de 
novo  as  this  was,  the  accumulated  abuses  of  civiliza- 
tion, the  burden  of  the  misdeeds  of  centuries  would 
not  be  shouldered.  One  for  all  and  all  for  one,  is  our 
first  maxim  of  political  economy.  All  our  children 
are  educated  in  what  are  really  common  schools.  Our 
men  and  women  work  a  small  portion  of  each  day  for 
an  equal  reward,  and  all  have  leisure  enough  for  the 
pleasures  and  entertainments  to  which  all  have  access." 

After  a  silence  of  almost  a  minute.  Ward  found  his 
voice  again :  ''  If  you  are  not  insane,  Mr.  Gillette,  I 
know  you  are  philosopher  enough  to  excuse,  under  the 
circumstances,  my  brutal  fi'ankness.  If  you  are  insane, 
your  delusion  appears  to  be  a  pleasing  one.  I  should 
like  to  hear  you  elaborate  it.  Yinton  here  probably 
would  say  so  too,  but  he  is  almost  in  a  state  of  mental 
collapse.  Some  of  these  literary  men  have  extremely 
sensitive  organizations,  you  must  know.  We  are  nearly 
at  the  City  Hall  now.  Let  us  take  the  Brooklyn  bridge, 
and,  when  we  reach  the  highest  point,  seat  ourselves 
on  the  benches  which  we  shall  find  there  and  hear  this 
matter  out  if  it  takes  until  morning." 

The  party  was  well  upon  the  bridge  when  Yinton 
found  his  voice:  "-You  must  see,  Mr.  Gillette,  that 
what  you  say  is  naturally  very  startling.  I  can  see 
that  my  friend  is  inclined  to  doubt  your  good  faith. 


22  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

But  in  me  please  behold  the  most  credulous  man  in  the 
world.  I  solemnly  assure  jou  I  shall  believe  all  that 
you  tell  me." 

"Shall  I  describe  our  economical  relations  to  you 
in  detail  ? "  asked  Gillette,  as  they  began  to  climb  the 
steps  once  the  scene  of  so  awful  a  catastrophe  ? 

"  No  there  is  not  time,"  answered  Yinton,  beginning 
to  shovv^  symptoms  of  extreme  nervous  excitement. 
"  Besides,  I  am  in, a  mood  to  hear  of  nothing  but  mira- 
cles to-night.  It  is  quite  a  matter  of  course  that  a 
settlement  of  sensible  persons  should  decide  not  to  live 
under  the  economical  conditions  which  curse  so-called 
civilization.  But  you  say  you  have  solved  the  sexual 
problem  in  Grape  Valley.  "  We  will  try  to  understand 
your  new  economical  relations  when  you  use  that 
luminous  adjective  '  socialistic'  Devote  all  your  pow- 
ers to  explaining  how  your  settlement  has  been  made  a 
lovers'  paradise." 


CHAPTER  III. 

There  was  a  bright  moon,  a  clear  sky,  and  the  air 
was  free  of  fog.  The  view  on  either  side  and  down 
the  harbor  was  impressive  to  the  point  of  grandeur. 
The  glistening  water  far  beneath  bore  on  its  bosom 
ships  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  with  thousands  sleep- 
ing in  their  depths.  To  their  left  was  Brooklyn,  with 
its  hundreds  of  thousands  of  sleeping  creatures,  to  the 
right  ]^ew  York,  Jersey  City  and  Staten  Island 
with  their  millions  of  dreamei's.  Only  these  three  and 
nature  seemed  awake.  Mr.  Gillette  could  not  have 
asked  for  more  fitting  surroundings  while  he  should  re- 
veal the  secrets  of  Grape  Yalley. 

"It  is  the  socialistic  nature  of  our  settlement  which 
makes  a  reform  in  sexual  relations  possible.  Our  women 
are  personally  independent,  as  much  so  as  our  men.  The 
woman  earns  with  her  ow^n  hands  her  equal  share  of  the 
necessities  and  luxuries  of  Grape  Yalley.  If  she  marries, 
it  is,  therefore,  with  no  mixed  motives,  but  for  what  she 
thinks  pure  love.  If  she  finds  she  is  mistaken,  there 
are  no  questions  of  maintenance  to  be  settled.  She  is 
as  independent  as  your  married  heiress  here  with 
$100,000  in  her  own  right.  There  is  nothing  but  love 
to  keep  the  husband  and  wife  in  Grape  Yalley  together. 
The  children  ?  Yes,  our  women  have  children.  Neither 
do  they  regard  their  advent  with  fears  nor  anxieties  as 
to  care  and  expense  involved.  Children  in  Grape  Yal- 
ley are  the  wards  of  the  State.  They  are  cared  for  at 
the  general  nursery  and  at  the  schools  and  colleges 
where  their  parents  see,  visit  and  enjoy  them.  There 
is  nothing  to  prevent  the  affectionate  father  and  mother 


24  An  Experiment  in  Marr'iage, 

from  spending  all  their  leisure  with  their  children  if 
they  desire,  but  a  burden,  a  restraint,  an  inconvenience, 
a  consuming  care,  the  children  of  Grape  Yallej  can 
never  be.  But  the  woman  does  not  have  all  her  de- 
velopment stopped  w^hen  she  becomes  a  mother ;  she 
is  not  forced  by  imperious  maternal  duties  to  neglect  to 
be  her  liusband's  sweetheart.  Now  let  us  see  how  our 
Grape  Valley  husbands  and  wives  differ  from  those  of 
your  civiHzation  ;  first,  since  the  wife  is  pecuniarily  in- 
dependent they  are  not  held  together  by  a  necessity  for 
support  on  her  side,  nor  by  pity  and  consideration  on 
his  ;  second,  the  children  are  no  tie  to  hold  the  parents 
together  against  their  will,  no  common  burden  entailing 
common  bondage.  You  tell  me  then  that  1  have  only 
described  conditions  which  weaken  the  ties  between 
husband  and  wife  ?  I  admit  it.  There  should  be  no 
tie  between  man  and  woman  which  will  contine  them 
after  they  have  ceased  to  love  each  other.  Any  thing 
less  than  love  uniting  husband  and  wife  is  bondage. 
Any  other  relation  except  that  founded  on  absorbing 
and  controlling  passion  is  mutual  slavery.  The  simple 
means  we  hav^e  adopted  under  our  socialistic  institutions 
in  Grape  Valley  to  make  it  a  lovers'  paradise  is  free 
divorce. 

*'  When  a  husband  or  wife  is  so  inclined  whichever 
desires  divorce  separates  from  the  other  by  a  certain 
entry  in  our  record  office.  Some  of  the  States  of  the 
Union  have  very  broad  divorce  laws,  as  you  will  re- 
mind me.  According  to  the  United  States  Constitu- 
tion each  State  can  make  its  own  provisions  on  this  sub- 
ject. But  you  have  not  noticed  that  the  States  with 
the  freest  divorce  laws  are  famous  for  their  happy 
homes  '?  Nor  have  I.  Free  divorce  is  the  key  to  do- 
mestic felicity  only  vrhen  practiced  under  socialistic 
conditions  such  as  prevail  in  Grape  Valley.  With  us 
the  assured  possession  which  Mr.  Ward  speaks  of  as 
turning  the  heads  of  husbands  and  wives  does  not  ex- 
ist. The  husband  and  wife  in  Grape  Valley  are  always 


A71  Expe7'ime7it  in  Marriage.  25 

on  probation.  If  they  love  one  another  they  continu- 
ally seek  to  endear  themselves  to  each  other.  When 
one  or  the  other  discovers  a  mistake  in  choice  has  been 
made,  there  is  a  speedy  means  of  correcting  it.  ^o 
husband  or  wife  in  Grape  Valley  makes  the  best  of  a 
spouse  who  cannot  confer  and  inspire  the  pi'ofoundest 
love.  All  are  capable  of  such  love;  in  order  to  achieve 
happy  lives  and  insure  progressive  souls,  all  should 
have  it.  In  Grape  Yalley  every  thing  is  favorable  to 
the  enjoyment  and  cultivation  of  sexual  love.  Our 
day's  labor  is  but  half  as  long  as  yours,  so  that  there  is 
ample  leisure  for  companionship.  There  are  no  anxie- 
ties in  money  matters  or  household  cares  and  burdens 
more  trying  still  to  spoil  the  temper  and  mar  the  fea- 
tures. There  is  none  of  that  sense  of  restraint  which- 
makes  the  bachelor  of  your  civilization  dread  marriage 
so  much,  and  the  average  Benedict  regret  his  old  free- 
dom, even  if  hefinds  comfort  in  the  domestic  relation.'' 

Gillette  drew  three  cigars  from  his  pocket,,  and  hand- 
ing one  to  each  of  his  companions,  lighted  the  third,  and 
puffed  at  it  as  vigorously  as  if  he  were  conscious  of  a 
good  deal  of  lost  time  to  make  up.  His  companions 
evidently  expected  him  to  resume  his  story,  and  were 
so  much  interested  as  not  to  be  willing  to  distract  even 
so  much  of  their  attention  as  should  be  necessary  to 
light  a  cigar. 

"Aren't  you  going  to  smoke?"  demanded  Gillette 
after  enduring  their  inquiring  gaze  as  long  as  he 
thought  possible. 

"  Bother  the  cigars,"  exclaimed  Vinton  impatiently. 
*'  Finish  your  description.  Have  you  really  achieved 
general  connubial  felicity  iu  what  you  call  Grape  Val- 
ley?" 

''  Yes." 

"But  tell  us,"  insisted  Ward,  "tell  us  how  the 
women  look  and  act.  Is  your  whole  colony  more  ele- 
vated m  moral  and  intellectual  tone,  owing  to  your 
system  ? " 

4 


26  An  Experiment  in  Mamaye. 

"  Yes." 

Yinton  and  Ward  looked  past  their  new  friend,  sud- 
denly became  monosyllabic,  into  each  other's  disap- 
pointed faces,  and  then  both  laughed  at  what  they  saw. 
In  a  minute  more  there  were  tliree  cigars  alight,  and 
it  was  only  after  a  very  significant  silence  that  Ward 
said  calmly  : 

"  I  conclude  you  have  told  n?  all  you  mean  to." 

*'  I  wouldn't  put  it  so  bald'y  as  that,"  answered 
Gillette.     ^'  1  have  told  you  ah  you   would  believe." 

"And  if  we  want  to  know  the  rest?"  inquired 
Yinton. 

Gillette  thought  for  a  moment.  Then  he  answered 
in  a  hearty  tone :  "  In  that  case  you  must  come  and 
join  us.     I  will  take  you  back  with  me." 

"I  will  go,"  exclaimed  A^inton  impetuously.  But 
Ward  with  the  conservatism  of  years  kept  silent.  "  It 
will  be  an  experience  worth  all  the  time  it  takes," 
added  Yinton,  for  the  benefit  of  his  friend. 

"  Excuse  me,"  said  Gillette,  after  a  little  pause.  "  I 
have  apparently  not  made  myself  understood.  I  did 
not  propose  to  take  3^ou  with  me  to  Grape  Yalley 
merely  as  curious  students.  Those  who  join  us  are 
enthusiastic  converts,  impatient  with  the  farce  of  love 
as  it  is  usually  rendered  under  your  social  conditions, 
passionately  eager  to  enjoy  our  new  world." 

Then  Ward  spoke :  "  Nothing  would  please  me 
more  th?.n  a  visit  to  Grape  Yalley.  But  I  am  not 
ready  to  go  to  that  bourne  from  which  no  traveler 
returns.  I  am  not  so  far  surfeited  with  the  luxuries 
and  amenities  of  this  effete  civilization,  cursed  with 
abuses,  reeking  with  corruption  as  I  acknowledge  it 
is,  to  be  willing  to  exchange  it  forever  even  for  your 
lovers'  paradise." 

Yinton  suddenly  burst  out  with  :  "•  Can't  you  let  us 
try  your  society  — say  for  two  years  ?  Then  if  one  or 
both  of  us  still  sigh  for  our  dear  old  abuses  let  him,  or 
us  both  as  may  happen,  return  ? " 


A71  Experiment  in  Marriage.  27 

"  Two  years  is  a  long  time,  Yinton,"  remarked 
Ward  significantly. 

"Two  years  a  long  time?  Why,  what  are  yoii 
thinking  of,  Ward  ?  If  in  two  years  we  can  learn 
something  really  new,  we  ought  to  consider  ourselves 
iu  rare  luck.  A  new  experience !  A  chance  to  study, 
from  the  inside,  new  social  conditions!  An  oppor- 
tunity to  examine  an  attempt  to  solve  that  most 
fascinating  and  baffling  of  earthly  problems,  the  true 
sexual  relations  !  Why,  bless  your  heart,  Ward,  isn't 
it  worth  five  tunes  two  years  of  our  idle  and  desultory 
lives?" 

*'  Yes,"  answered  Ward  in  a  convinced  tone,  *'you 
are  right.  I  will  give  two  years  to  Grape  Yalley  if 
Mr.  Gillette  will  accept  such  provisional  devoteeship 
as  that." 

Gillette  made  no  reply,  and  Yinton,  throwing  away 
liis  cigar,  laid  his  hand  persuasively  on  his  new  friend's 
arm. 

"  Try  us,  Mr.  Gillette.  You  know  our  surroundings 
and  education  have  made  us  sceptics.  A  sceptic  is  a 
variety  of  dead  sea  fruit  of  which  our  civihzation 
is  proudest  you  know.  It  is  left  for  the  ignorant, 
the  unlettered,  the  inexperienced  to  believe.  The 
flower  of  our  culture  doubts  all  things.  So  you  must 
make  allowances  for  us."  he  conchided,  scoffing  at 
himself. 

Still  Gillette  made  no  answer,  and  Ward  took  up 
the  argument. 

"  Naturally  you  do  not  care  to  reveal  to  the  world 
at  large  the  location  of  your  settlement.  I  can  under- 
stand that.  A  new  crusade  would  be  at  once  organized 
against  you.  The  admirers  of  the  system  of  society 
where  marriage  is  usually  a  failure,  where  vice  and 
shame  are  triumphant,  would  not  rest  satisfied  or  sleep 
o'nights,  while  one  of  your  grape  vines  clung  to  its 
nourishing  soil.  But  believe  me,  we  would  not  betray 
the  approaches  to  your  Eden." 


28  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

"  Make  your  own  terms,"  urged  Yinton,  with  char- 
acteristic eagerness,  "  put  all  your  vows  upon  us.  We 
submit  in  advance  to  all  your  conditions." 

"  Yes,"  added  Ward,  ''  first  put  in  all  the  possible 
appeals  to  our  last  remnant  of  honor.  Then  surround 
us  with  all  the  restrictions  you  can  invent  to  make 
assurance  doubly  sure.     Blindfold  us  if  you  choose." 

Gillette  slowly  rose  from  his  seat,  and  stood  looking 
thoughtfully  out  upon  the  water.  In  the  distance  the 
giant  arm  of  Bartholdi's  statue  held  up  her  dim  torch 
in  vain  hope  of  enlightening  the  world.  The  symbol 
perhaps  touched  him,  and  turned  the  scale  of  his  de- 
termination. 

"My  conditions  would  have  to  be  hard  ones,"  he 
said  at  last.  "  You  are,  clearly  enough,  neither  of  you 
disciples.  But  still  I  believe  I  will  run  the  risk  of 
taking  you  with  me,  if,  indeed,  there  is  any  risk,  such 
conditions  as  I  must  impose  being  accepted." 

"  We  accept  them  in  advance,"  exclaimed  Yinton. 
"  x\s  for  discipleship,  please  count  me  in.  I  feel  as- 
sured 1  shall  not  want  to  return  to  this  poor  world." 
And  the  young  man  actually  snapped  his  fingers  at  the 
untold  wealth  and  luxury  of  the  magnificent  cities 
that  slept  at  his  feet. 

Gillette  smiled  at  the  enthusiasm  of  his  new  friend, 
and  then  began  to  state  his  conditions.  "  First,  when 
we  reach  Topeka,  Kansas,  some  excuse  must  be  in- 
vented for  blindfolding  you  both,  and  sealing  your 
ears.  Y^ou  must  consent  to  do  without  two  of  your 
senses  for  something  more  than  a  week." 

"  Agreed,"  exclaimed  Yinton;  and  Gillette  continued: 

"  Then  when  the  time  of  your  novitiate  has  expired, 
if  either  of  you  decide  to  leave  us,  he  must  be  similarly 
blindfolded  and  deafened  until  his  return  to  Topeka  is 
accomplished." 

"  Agreed."  And  this  time  Ward  joined  Yinton  in 
the  exclamation. 

"Now  for  the  moral  restraints,"  continued  Gillette. 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  29 

^^  I  need  not  explain  how  disastrous  notoriety  would  be 
to  our  settlement.  We  should  die  a  double  death. 
The  hiflux,  too  rapid  for  humanizing  and  elevating  in- 
fluences, of  the  vulgar  crowd,  would  overwhelm  our 
institutions  and  debase  them.  The  bigots  would  arouse 
governments  against  us,  and  statutes  would  either  be 
discovered,  or  quickly  enacted  for  our  extinction.  You 
must  each  of  you  promise  on  your  honor  not  to  seek  to 
know  the  geographical  location  of  Grape  Yalley,  either 
while  there  or  after  leaving." 

'^  I  promise,"  said  Ward. 

"  I  promise,"  echoed  Vinton. 

"  When  can  we  start  % "  asked  Gillette  in  a  more 
matter  of  fact  tone.  "  My  business  is  completed  here. 
I  would  like  to  set  out  to  return  day  after  to-morrow, 
but  this  will  probably  be  too  short  notice  for  you." 

''  Not  for  me,"  answered  Ward,  rising  to  his  feet. 
"  No  one  has  any  claims  on  me.  I  have  only  a  few 
money  matters  to  settle,  and  I  am  ready.  That  re- 
minds me ;  it  will,  of  course,  be  necessary  for  us  to 
take  a  considerable  amount  of  money  with  us." 

Gillette  laughed.  "Apparently,  my  dear  Mr.  Ward, 
you  are  not  erudite  in  matters  socialistic.  Your  money 
w^ould  not  be  current  in  Grape  Yalley.  But  your  labor 
and  brains  will  doubtless  be  of  value  to  the  State,  suf- 
licient  for  your  board,  lodging  and  clothes.  Take 
enough  money  with  you  for  traveling  expenses  —  say 
$200  each.  That  will  be  more  than  enough."  Then 
turning  to  Yinton,  "  Can  you,  too,  be  ready  to  start 
day  after  to-morrow  ?  " 

Yinton  laughed  with  some  bitterness.  "  I  don't 
know  what  preparations  I  have  to  make,"  he  said, 
''  unless  it  were  a  last  farewell  visit  to  the  woman  who 
jilted  me  for  another  man's  millions.  Yery  likely  she 
would  enjoy  the  sensation  of  another  parting.  She  is 
quite  an  epicure  in  the  way  of  sensations."  Then  he 
rose  suddenly  to  his  feet  and  said  in  a  more  genial 
tone  :     "  Certainly,  I  will  be  ready."     And  the  three 


30  An  Exjyerivient  in  Marriage. 

men  once  more  joined  arms  and  retraced  their  steps 
across  the  silent  bridge. 

In  another  hour,  after  making  an  appointment  to 
meet  at  Gillette's  hotel,  the  Fifth  Avenue,  at  nine 
o'clock  the  next  morning  but  one,  the}'  had  parted. 
They  were  all  in  bed,  if  not  asleep,  by  the  time  the 
first  carts  with  country  produce  began  to  rumble  over 
the  drowsy  streets. 

Editorial  Note. 

It  was  not  much  after  the  middle  of  the  next  day 
that  Ward  and  Vinton  made  their  appearance,  as  they 
had  often  done  before,  in  the  editorial  room  of  the 
daily  paper  wMth  which  I  have  been  for  many  years 
connected.  I  was  just  putting  the  finishing  touches  to 
a  leader  entitled  ''  The  Growing  Frequency  of  Di- 
vorce." I  was  not  a  little  proud  of  my  effort,  and  pro- 
posed to  take  advantage  of  my  intimate  relations  with 
my  visitors  to  read  them  the  article.  "  It  is  not  long," 
I  said,  clearing  my  throat. 

"  Don't  do  it,"  exclaimed  Yinton.  "  We  have  n't  a 
moment  to  spare,  and  have  enough  to  say  to  you  to 
fill  a  book." 

'^  Forgive  us  this  time,"  pleaded  Ward,  satirically, 
as  he  saw  a  disgusted  look  come  over  my  face.  "  Put 
ou  your  hat  and  lunch  with  us  at  Delmonico's.  Don't 
be  sulky  uow.  There  isn't  any  time  to  waste.  Yinton 
is  right." 

In  half  an  hour  we  were  seated  in  a  private  room 
in  Delmonico's,  ordered  by  Mr.  Ward  with  perfect 
disregard  of  expense,  and  were  enjoying  w^hat  he  was 
pleased  to  call  a  lunch,  but  a  more  royal  dinner  I  had 
never  sat  down  to.  My  friends  did  not  at  first  tell  me 
what  they  had  for  me  to  do.  They  were  conscientious 
enough  not  to  be  guilty  of  distracting  my  attention 
from  the  rare  viands,  of  which,  indeed,  they  too  par- 
took as  if  in  apprehension  that  it  might  be  long  before 


All  Experiment  in  Marriage.  31 

tliey  had  sucli  aiiotlier  opportunity.  It  was  only  after 
tlie*^  remnants  of  the  feast  had  been  removed  and  our 
cigars  had  been  hghted  that  the  waiter  was  told  to 
leave  the  room,  and  I  saw  that  the  mystery  of  the 
banquet  in  the  pris^ate  room,  which  had  been  given  in 
my  honor,  was  about  to  be  solved.  Of  course  not 
even  for  a  moment  had  I  suffered  myself  to  entertain 
the  idea  that  the  dinner  was  intended  merely  as  a 
tribute  to  my  long  unappreciated  virtues  or  talents,  so 
I  very  calmly  prepared  to  listen  to  what  my  friends 
had  to  impart.  Then  first  one  and  then  the  other  at- 
tempted to  tell  me  of  the  strange  conversation  of  the 
night  before  and  its  stranger  outcome.  What  Vinton 
forgot,  Ward  supplied.  So  with  numberless  interrup- 
tions and  frequent  changes  of  point  of  view  I  was 
finally  placed  in  possession  of  every  thing  said  and  done 
by  Mr.  Gillette,  Mr.  Be  van  and  my  two  friends,  from 
ten  o'clock  last  evening  until  they  went  to  bed  very 
early  this  morning.  It  made  no  difference  what  argu- 
ments, drawn  from  a  broad  and  practical  experience,  I 
offered  to  dissuade  them  from  what  I  called  a  crazy 
adventure.  They  simply  laughed  at  my  labored 
worldly  wisdom,  as  they  called  it.  Just  before  they 
shook  my  hand  at  parting,  Yin  ton  said  : 

"What  we  particularly  want  of  you  is  to  write  up 
all  we  have  told  you,  using  imaginary  names  of  course, 
and  to  do  it  at  once,  before  you  forget  the  details.  You 
may  never  hear  from  either  of  us  again.  In  that  case 
we  want  to  have  what  we  have  already  told  you  put 
before  the  public  in  some  shape.  Give  whatever  title 
you  choose  to  your  report.  Call  it  '  A  Mysterious  Dis- 
appearance' if  you  can  think  of  no  better  title.  But 
have  it  published  without,  fail.  It  might  do  for  a 
magazine  article.  Use  your  own  judgment  about  that. 
Of  course  you  can  add  as  a  foot-note  whatever  expla- 
nation you  choose  to  offer  of  your  part  in  the  literary 
work.  Yet  I  hope  within  the  two  years  that  I  may  be 
able  to  get  into  your  hands  some  sort  of  a  description 


32  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

of  our  actual  experiences  and  observations  in  Grape 
Valley  itself.  1  mean  to  keep  a  full  record  of  all-  that 
is  interesting  to  me,  with  a  view  to  sending  it  to  jou 
some  time.  If  that  sketch,  or  whatever  you  niay 
please  to  call  it,  comes ^by  any  means  into  your  hands, 
you  can  use  what  we  have  just  given  you  as  an  intro- 
duction, you  know,  and  publish  the  whole  together. 
We  want  the  world  to  get  the  benefit  of  our  experi- 
ence." 

Of  course  I  agreed,  and  the  foregoing  pages  were 
written  and  laid  away  among  my  private  papers. 
Shortly  before  the  expiration  of  two  years  a  thick 
package,  addressed  to  me  in  Yinton's  handwriting,  was 
placed  in  my  hands  by  a  district  messenger  boy.  Per- 
haps I  can  do  no  better  than  to  let  the  contents  of  that 
envelope  occupy  the  rest  of  the  volume  now  ready  for 
the  printers. — [Editor. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

It  was  only  after  leaving  Topeka  that  Gillette  in- 
sisted on  tlie  use  of  the  precautions  to  which  Ward  and 
I  had  agreed  in  advance.  The  explanation  given  for 
the  benefit  of  the  curions  was  that  my  friend  Ward 
and  I  had  undergone  serious  surgical  operations  upon 
our  eyes,  and  were  now  on  our  way,  in  the  charge  of 
attendants,  to  our  southwestern  home.  Inquirers  were 
informed  that  the  eminent  Chicago  specialist  who  per- 
formed the  delicate  operation  had  positively  enjoined 
upon  our  guides  that  under  no  circumstances  must  we 
be  excited  by  conversation.  Hence  it  was,  Gillette  ex- 
plained, that  he  had  put  cotton  in  our  ears.  Doubtless 
the  expressions  of  sympathy  for  our  luckless  condition 
were  numberless.  Poor  Gillette  must  have  been  tor- 
mented nearly  to  the  point  of  insanity  by  pitiful  woman, 
whose  heart,  careless  of  latitude  and  longitude,  ever 
melts  for  the  unfortunate.  But  we,  of  course,  were 
unconscious  of  every  thing  that  the  two  most  important 
of  our  senses  could  have  told  us,  and  only  knew  that 
we  traveled  night  and  day,  whether  north,  south,  east 
or  west,  we  could  not  guess ;  we  could  not  even  ex- 
change impressions. 

For  a  day  and  a  night  more  we  went  by  rail.  Then 
there  were  several  days'  journey  in  wagons,  and  several 
more  on  horseback.  It  was  a  strange  experience  to 
me,  at  first  extremely  trying  to  bear,  but  I  do  not 
know  as  I  regret  having  passed  through  it.  At  first 
my  self- consciousness  seemed  intensified  almost  to  the 
point  of  pain.  All  the  faculties  of  observation,  de- 
prived of  their  ordinary  employment,  seemed  turned 
5 


34  An  Exjyeriment  in  Marriage. 

inward.  I  could  almost  see  mj  mental  operations.  It 
was  as  if  I  discerned  the  dual  man,  myself  and  my 
self- consciousness,  the  spirit  as  something  apart  from 
the  body.  Then  my  body  became  of  infinitely  small 
importance  to  me.  I  became  conscious  of  a  better,  a 
fuller,  a  less  sordid  life  apart  from  the  physical. 

I  was  in  no  haste  to  have  my  eyes  unbandaged,  and 
my  ears  unsealed.  Indeed,  my  first  emotion  as  I  felt 
some  one  trying  to  untie  the  handkerchief  from  about 
my  head  was  one  of  impatience.  I  should  have  pre- 
ferred to  have  been  left  alone  with  myself.  It  was  as 
if  profane  steps  had  approached  the  shrine  where  I  was 
rapt  in  devotion.  But  in  a  moment  I  felt  my  eyes  un- 
covered and  the  bright  light  shining  on  their  unwonted 
lids.  I  put  my  hand  over  them  to  relieve  the  pain,  and 
as  I  did  so  the  cotton  was  removed  from  my  ears,  and 
the  sound  of  I'unning  water  was  the  first  that  I  heard. 
Then  came  Gillette's  voice  saying: 

"  Your  pilgrimage  is  nearly  over." 

Then  my  curiosity  overcame  my  fear  of  the  dazzling 
light,  and,  shading  my  eyes  with  niy  hand,  I  looked 
around.  In  front  of  me,  from  almost  at  my  very  feet 
rose  the  lofty  walls  of  a  mountain,  over  whose  heights 
the  sun  was  just  passing.  I  had  never  conceived,  until 
that  instant,  how  intensely  brilliant  is  mere  light,  what 
a  force  there  is  in  it.  It  was  as  if  a  keen  knife  pierced 
to  my  very  brain. 

At  my  side  stood  Ward,  leaning  against  the  horse 
from  which^he  had  just  dismounted,  and  shading  his 
dazzled  eyes  as  I  was  shading  mine.  In  that  first  Took, 
too,  I  noticed  that  my  friend's  face  had  aged  percepti- 
bly since  I  last  looked  into  it,  and  a  quick  sense  of  regret 
that  I  had  ever  taken  him  from  his  comforts  flashed 
through  me.  On  my  other  side  stood  Gillette,  regard- 
ing us  with  an  expectant  smile,  and  just  behind  him  a 
stranger. 

"  This  is  Mr.  Barlow,"  said  Gillette.  ''  He  joined 
us  at  Topeka." 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage^  35 

*^  And  this  is  Grape  Yalley  ? "  asked  "Ward,  as  his 
eyes  becoming  used  to  the  light,  he  let  them  slowly 
skirt  the  whole  horizon.  My  eyes  followed  his,  and 
this  is  what  1  saw:  in  the  distance  a  treeless  prairie 
changing  into  a  rolling  country,  then  into  hills,  and  at 
last  into  the  elevated  plateau  on  which,  and  at  the  base 
of  the  steep  inaccessible  acclivity  of  a  mountain  side, 
we  now  stood.  At  the  very  edge  of  the  mountain 
rushed  a  roariug  torrent,  foaming  in  its  haste  to  plunge, 
as  it  seemed  to  do  almost  at  our  feet,  into  the  bosom 
of  the  solid  rock. 

"Is  this  Grape  Yalley  ?  "  I  repeated  in  a  tone  out 
of  which  I  could  not,  with  all  my  will  force,  keep  an 
inflection  of  disappointment  and  reproach.  There  was 
no  sign  of  human  habitation  in  view  except  one  small 
houso  and  its  barn.  Where  were  Gillette's  thousand 
men  besides  women  and  cliildren  ?  But  if  this  were 
not  our  destination  where  could  it  be  ?  Not  far  oil, 
certainly,  since  all  precautions  had  been  abandoned  and 
we  were  now  permitted  the  free  use  of  our  eyes  and 
ears.  Yet  what  valley  could  there  be  to  the  south 
where  the  mountain  range  reared  its  bristling  peaks 
until  their  outlines  became  dim  in  the  distance?  Our 
course  certainly  could  not  be  to  the  north  or  west,  where 
the  prairies  stretched  out  as  far  as  we  could  see.  Could  it 
be  possible  Gillette  had  played  this  profound  practi- 
cal joke  on  us,  that  he  had  rightly  seen  in  us  a  pair  of 
hare-brained  enthusiasts,  and  perhaps  in  conspiracy 
with  Bevan,  had  arranojed  for  this  stupendous  farce? 
Now  that  he  had  literally  brought  us  up  against  a  stone 
wall  he  would  doubtless  burst  into  loud  and  uncontrol- 
lable guffaws  of  laughter.  Well  it  was  not  a  bad  joke 
on  us.  How  New  York  would  ring  with  it !  It  would 
never  do  for  Ward  and  me  to  live  in  the  metropolis 
again.     So  mucli  was  certain. 

Then    another  and   even    less  agreeable  possibility* 
struck  me.     Perhaps  this  was  a  scheme  of  Gillette's  to 
plunder  us.     What  a  magnificent  confidence  game  it 


36  An  Exjjerimeiit  in  Jlcrrriage. 

was,  if  so;  to  persuade  two  wealthy  New  York  men  of 
the  world  to  travel  thousands  of  miles,  a  part  of  the 
distance  blindfolded,  bj  cars,  by  wagon  and  horseback, 
under  the  guidance  of  an  almost  total  stranger  in  search 
of  a  will  o'  the  wisp,  a  socialistic  colony.  How  easy 
it  would  be,  now  that  we  were  disarmed,  lost  and  with- 
out hope  of  a  possibility  of  escape  or  of  rescue,  for  our 
guide  to  make  his  own  terms  for  our  ransom.  I  clap- 
ped my  hands  suddenly  to  my  side  and  found  a  pair 
of  pistols  in  my  belt.  There  was  of  course  no  chance 
that  they  were  loaded.  Doubtless  they  had  been  hung 
at  my  belt  only  as  a  part  of  the  trick.  Lifting  my 
eyes  to  Gillette  I  saw  he  had  seen  my  movement 
toward  the  pistols.  He  suddenly  burst  into  a  laugh 
like  a  school  boy. 

"  What  awful  thoughts  are  you  revolvhig,  my  dear 
fellow?"  he  asked.  "You  think  there  is  no  Grape 
Valley  ? " 

"  Where  can  it  be  if  there  is  such  a  place  ? "  de- 
manded Ward,  a  very  ugly  expression  coming  over  a 
face  1  had  never  seen  disturbed  before.  "  It  surely  is 
not  there?"  and  he  pointed  to  the  north. 

"  No." 

"  Nov  there  ? "  and  Ward  moved  his  extended  arm 
so  that  his  finger  indicated  the  east. 

"  Nor  there? "  as  he  pointed  to  the  south. 

"No,"  answered  Gillette,  apparently  enjoying  our 
ill  temper,  the  full  meaning  of  which,  perhaps,  he  did 
not  grasp. 

"And  it  surely  is  not  there?"  Ward  snapped  his 
finger  incredulously  at  the  steep  mountain  side.  "  So 
you  must  have " 

"  But  it  is  just  there,"  interrupted  Gillette,  point- 
ing at  the  mountain,  "  and  in  two  hours  we  can  be  in 
Grape  Yalley.  That  is,  Sul  of  us  but  our  friend  Bar- 
low.    His  place  is  without." 

Ward  gave  Gillette  a  disgusted  look,  but  said  no 
more.     He  apparently  believed  as  I  did,  that  our  guide 


An  ExpeHment  in  Marriage,  37 

was  telling  us  an  nntrutli.  Indeed,  the  impossibility  of 
scaling  the  mountain  seemed  self-evident.  Its  sides 
were  almost  as  perpendicular  as  a  wall.  But  since  Gil- 
lette's humor  had  not  had  its  bent,  as  yet,  we  seemed 
to  have  no  recourse  but  to  fall  in  with  it.  The  time 
for  remedy  had  passed  some  days  since.  Onr  plight 
could  be  no  worse  for  following  Gillette's  directions 
somewhat  longer. 

"  Come  with  us,  gentlemen,"  said  Gillette,  and  lead- 
ing our  horses  we  advanced  toward  the  point  where  the 
swollen  stream  seemed  to  plunge  into  the  yqyj  side  of 
the  mountain.  It  was  not  until  we  reached  the  edge 
of  the  stream  that  I  noticed  a  cleft  in  the  rocky  wall 
wide  enough  to  admit  the  roaring  torrent,  but  as 
far  as  I  could  see,  the  mountain  closed  up  again,  leav- 
ing no  gorge  unless  it  were  a  subterranean  one. 

"  That  is  onr  course,"  said  Gillette,  pointing  after  the 
foaming  stream.  "That  river  leads  to  Grape  Val- 
ley." ^ 

I  confess  I  was  too  much  astonished  to  tliink  of  a  ' 
fitting  reply.     But  my  friend  Ward  was  seldom  taken 
at  such  a  disadvantage. 

"  It  looks  inviting,"  he  answered,  "but  I  do  not  see 
your  boat  for  the  trip  to  the  infernal  regions.  You 
surely  will  not  ask  us  to  swim  there." 

Before  answering  us,  Gillette  directed  Barlow  to  take 
the  horses  to  his  stable  for  rest  and  food,  and  as  the 
man  led  away  our  tired  beasts,  we  followed  them  wnth 
uneasy  glances.  It  seemed  as  if  our  condition  now 
became  more  helpless  than  ever. 

''Your  eyes  deceive  you,"  said  Gillette,  "if  they 
lead  you  to  suppose  that  Eapid  river  takes  a  subter^ 
ranean  course,  or  that  there  is  no  roadway  through 
these  mountains.  The  gorge  through  which  that  tor- 
rent flows  winds  between  the  mountains  with  frequent 
twists  and  turns,  coming  out  into  a  very  pretty  and 
well-protected  valley.  Where  a  stream'  can  go,  we 
can  go." 


88  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

"But  not  at  the  same  time,"  retorted  Ward,  keenly. 

"  ]N'o,"  laughed  Gillette.  "  You  are  right,  not  at  the 
same  time.  First,  we  will  put  out  this  very  uncom- 
jranionable  stream,  and  then  travel  the  road  by  our- 
selves in  peace  and  safety." 

Ward  took  a  side  look  at  me  as  if  to  see  how  this 
stranoje  talk  of  our  guide  affected  me.  But  he  made 
no  reply.  The  climax  of  the  situation  could  not  be 
long  postponed. 

By  this  time  Barlow^  had  rejoined  n«,  and  Gillette, 
warning  us  to  keep  close  by  his  side,  stepped  along  to 
the  point  where  the  river  turned  from  its  southerly 
course  and  took  the  greater  descent  to  the  west.  They 
seemed  searching  for  something,  and  soon  lifted  up  a 
temporary  bridge  made  of  light  wood  and  leather, 
which,  being  thrown  over  the  stream,  Barlow  crossed. 

Ward  and  I  had  by  this  time  recovered  our  interest 
in  the  situation,  and  were  w^atching  the  mysterious 
proceediniTS  of  Gillette  and  his  assistant  with  the  in- 
tensest  cui'iosity. 

"  Are  they  crazy  ? "  demanded  Ward  in  a  low  tone. 
^*Both  of  them?    'Or  are  we?" 

I  had  no  time  to  make  answer,  for  Gillette  beckoned 
us  to  come  closer  still  to  his  side,  and  forgetting  our 
sullen ness  of  a  moment  or  two  since,  we  obeyed  with 
alacrity.  As  we  followed  the  sharp  turn  of  the  stream 
1  noticed  that  we  were  stepping  over  the  gravel  bottom 
of  a  former  river  bed,  which  ran  to  the  south,  skirting 
instead  of  entering  the  mountain  range.  Rapid  river, 
or  perhaps  a  branch  of  it,  may  in  time  of  spring 
freshets  have  once  taken  that  course.  If  the  river  were 
to  take  that  course  now  instead  of  running  to  the  w^est 
and  through  the  mountains,  it  was  plain  enough  the 
gorge  would  be  left  free  for  us.  Perhaps  Gillette  was 
not  so  crazy  after  all.  But  no  sooner  had  the  idea 
formed  itself  in  my  mind,  than  it  was  realized.  Barlow 
had  raised  some  sort  of  a  gate  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  stream,  and  a  solid  and  water-tight  dam,  running 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  39 

apparently  in  grooves  at  the  bottom,  was  shot  across 
Rapid  river.  The  course  of  the  torrent  was  suddenly 
changed  from  a  westerly  to  a  southerly  direction ;  our 
retreat  was  now  cut  off,  but  the  gorge  through  the 
range  of  mountains  was  ready  for  the  astonished  trav- 
elers. 

"  Our  promenade  is  prepared,"  said  Gillette,  enjoy- 
ing the  surprise  he  had  given  us.  Tlien  he  turned  to 
Barlow:  "H^w^  long  a  time  do  you  allow  for  the 
walk  down  the  canon  and  into  the  valley  ?  " 

"Two hours  is  more  than  enough,"  answered  Bar- 
low. "  But  let  us  compare  watches  to  make  sure  there 
is  no  disagreement  in  time." 

These  precautions  were  certainly  suggestive  of  very- 
possible  dangers,  and  gave  Ward  and  me  some  uneasi- 
ness. I,  for  one,  was  much  relieved  when  Gillette  said  : 

"  Well,  you  say  two  hours  is  ample  for  us  to  make 
the  trip ;  now,  if  you  do  not  pull  up  the  dam  for  three 
hours,  we  shall  certainly  have  a  good  deal  more  than 
ample  time.  It  is  now  two  o'clock."  Ward  and  I 
drew  out  our  watches  and  set  the  hands  to  Gillette's 
time,  as  he  continued  :  "  Let  the  water  on  at  five.  That 
will  be  safe  enough  surely." 

"  Safe! "  echoed  Barlow.  "  I  should  think  so;  if  you 
are  not  out  of  the  gorge  in  three  hours,  you  never  will 
be." 


CHAPTER  V. 

With  this  somewhat  ominous  remark  of  Barlow's 
echoing  in  our  ears,  Grillette,  Ward  and  I  set  out  on 
our  pecuhar  journey  down  the  bed  of  the  stream, 
which  had  given  place  to  us,  as  our  guide  had  promised. 
For  a  dozen  rods  the  stream  had  run  due  west,  then 
suddenly  the  mountains  seemed  cleft  again,  and  be- 
tween two  towering  walls  of  frowning  rock,  Kapid 
river  had  rushed  north  for  twice  that  distance.  Then 
a  westerly  course  was  resumed,  and  the  awful  walls 
of  rock  drew  back,  so  that  for  a  while  our  surround- 
ings were  less  fearful. 

Perhaps  it  was  to  give  Ward  and  me  an  opportunity 
for  a  brief  exchange  of  opinions  and  reflections  that 
Gillette  just  now  put  a  few  rods  between  himself  and 
as.  At  any  rate  we  were  not  slow  to  avail  ourselves 
of  the  precious  privilege. 

^'  My  faith  in  the  reality  of  Grape  Yalley  is  re- 
stored," said  Ward.  ''  As  for  its  being  a  lovers'  para- 
dise my  infidelity  is  unchanged,  however.  It  is  human 
nature  which  renders  such  a  thing  impossible.  Mere 
difference  in  latitude  and  longitude  cannot  achieve 
miracles." 

"But,"  I  answered,  "human  nature  develops  very 
diversely,  according  to  conditions  and  surroundings. 
Most  of  our  criminals,  I  suppose  every  one  admits,  are 
made  such  by  circumstances." 

"  Still,"  he  continued,  "  I  cannot  believe  that  your 
friend  Gillette  and  his  company  can  have  discovered 
or  created  conditions  under  which  lovers  cease  to  grow 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  41 

cold,  and  passion  no  longer  changes  to  indifference  or 
revulsion." 

"  If  I  understand  Gillette,"  I  said,  "  he  admits  the 
disease  but  offers  a  cure  for  it.  His  panacea  is  the 
removal  of  restrictions  which  in  our  society  bind  to- 
gether those  who  have  discovered  themselves  mis- 
mated.  But  since  we  are  within  two  hours'  walk  of 
Grape  Yalley  I  am  willing  to  entirely  suspend  judg- 
ment upon  its  institutions  until  we  behold  them  in  ope- 
ration." 

At  this  point  in  our  conversation,  the  bed  of  the 
stream  which  we  were  following  took  another  turn, 
this  time  to  the  south,  and  once  more  our  surroundings 
were,  to  say  the  least,  portentous.  Beneath  our  feet 
was  a  thin  coating  of  alluvial  soil  and  pebbles,  while 
occasionally  the  edge  of  primeval  rock  jutted  out,  over 
which  the  torrent,  which  a  few  minutes  before  poured 
where  we  were  now  walking,  must  have  foamed  and 
roared  magnificently.  The  bed  of  the  stream  was, 
however,  in  this  place,  and  wherever  the  mountains 
came  close  together,  chiefly  rock,  shaped  into  a  trough, 
the  sides,  polished  by  the  water,  inclining  inward  so 
that  the  level  space,  on  which  we  found  our  path,  was 
very  narrow,  sometimes  not  wide  enough  for  two  to 
walk  abreast.  On  the  glistening  face  of  the  mountain, 
at  either  side,  we  could  see  the  mark  left  by  the  stream 
turned,  but  a  few  moments  since,  from  its  ancient 
course,  for  our  accommodation.  In  many  places  this 
water  mark  was  considerably  above  our  heads.  In 
others  where  the  canon  was  somewhat  wider,  the  wet 
line  along  the  rock  was  not  higher  than  our  waists. 
Gillette,  having  given  us,  as  he  thought,  sufficient  time 
to  exchange  confidences,  now  waited  for  us  to  over- 
take him. 

"  We  are  doing  finely,"  he  said,  as  he  glanced  at  his 
watch.     "  We  are  one-third  of  the  way  into  the  valley, 
and  have  only  used  up  a  sixth  part  of  our  allotted  three 
hours." 
6 


42  A7i  Exjperiment  in  Marriage, 

Ward  and  I  looked  at  our  watches  and  found  it  was 
half-past  two. 

"  Mr.  Barlow  was  to  raise  the  gates  at  five,  I  believe," 
remarked  Ward.  "  Have  you  any  idea  how  long  it 
would  take  the  torrent  to  overtake  us,  if  we  should 
loiter  past  the  appointed  hour  and  minute?" 

"Don't  breathe  such  a  thought,"  I  exclaimed,  look- 
ing fearfully  at  the  steep  walls  of  the  caiion  which, 
at  this  point,  rose  a  thousand  feet  without  a  break. 
*'  Why,  if  the  water  overtook  us  here,  there  would  be 
no  possible  escape  for  us.  It  is  as  hopeless  a  death-trap 
as  I  ever  saw." 

"Never  fear,"  responded  Gillette.  "We  shall  have 
been  out  of  this  canon  a  full  hour  before  Rapid  river 
flows  in  its  bed  again.  Barlow  is  absolutely  to  be  de- 
pended upon.  I  would  stake  my  life  that  he  would 
not  raise  the  gates  one  second  before  the  appointed 
time.  Please  remember,  too,  that  I  made  the  time  a 
full  hour  more  than  it  ever  takes  to  make  the  trip." 

"  How  far  is  it  from  start  to  finish  ? "    I  asked. 

"  A  trifle  less  than  seven  miles." 

"]^ow,"  suggested  Ward,  sarcastic  as  ever,  "per- 
haps my  sensitive  young  friend  will  permit  you  to 
answer  my  question." 

"As  to  the  speed  of  Rapid  river  you  mean?"  asked 
Gillette. 

"  The  name  of  the  stream  is  rather  significant,"  I 
again  interrupted.     "Too  much  so,  I  don't  like  it." 

"  Well,"  continued  Gillette,  "it  takes  the  river  just 
seven  minutes  to  make  the  run  from  the  gate  where 
Barlow  stands  to  the  valley.  I  estimate  we  are  now  a 
third  of  the  distance  through  the  canon.  It  would 
take  the  water  a  little  less  than  two  minutes  and  a  half 
to  overtake  us  here." 

"  A  pleasing  thought,"  commented  Ward,  quicken- 
ing his  pace,  perhaps  unconsciously.  "  In  two  minuter 
and  a  half  from  the  instant  the  first  roar  of  the  torrent 
breaks  upon  our  ears  the  w^ater  will  be  over  our  heads.'^ 


A71  Exjperiment  in  Marriage.  43 

"The  roar  and  the  clehige  would  be  far  nearer 
together  than  two  minutes  and  a  half.  You  could  not 
hear  the  water  very  much  farther  than  you  could  see  it," 
answered  Gillette. 

Ward  looked  mystified.  "Certainly  a  stream  dash- 
ing over  a  rocky  bed  and  at  the  rate  of  an  express  train 
must  make  a  loud  noise.    I  hope  I  may  never  hear  it." 

"  So  it  does ;  an  awful  and  never-to-be-forgotten 
roaring.  But  you  must  remember  the  mountain  sepa- 
rates you  from  the  canon  you  have  just  passed 
through,  at  its  first  turn.  The  mountain,  in  the  same 
way,  acts  as  an  additional  barrier  every  turn  the  erratic 
stream  makes.  'Sound  cannot  turn  short  corners  to  ad- 
vantage you  know.  So  if  Eapid  liver  gets  on  our 
track  you  will  not  have  time  to  say  your  shortest  prayer 
between  the  time  its  first  terrible  roar  falls  upon  your 
ears  and  the  ijistant  that  tJie  flying  wall  of  water  strikes 
you  like  a  tidal  wave,  and and " 

"And  what?"  demanded  Ward  rather  sternly.  "It 
is  surely  a  small  thing  to  ask  that  I  may  know  what 
manner  of  death  I  must  die." 

Gillette  had  grown  serious  in  spite  of  himself.  His 
imagination  had  been  forced  to  work,  and  shadows  of 
the  pictures  it  was  drawing  were  upon  his  face  as  he 
replied  . 

"  If  the  river  overtook  us  in  such  a  spot  as  this,"  he 
answered  slowly,  as  he  glanced  up  the  scarce  divided 
walls  of  rock  to  the  thin  patch  of  sky  above,  which 
looked  so  wonderfully  bright  and  beautiful,  "  it  would 
be  almost  instant  death.  Our  brains  would  be  dashed 
out  against  these  walls  of  rock  before  we  had  time  to 
begin  to  be  drowned.  In  some  portions  of  the  course, 
where  the  river  is  less  confined,  and  so  less  angry,  we 
plight  have  the  alternative  of  a  death  from  "drown- 
ino^." 

"  There  would  be  one  satisfaction  at  least,"  I  sug- 
gested. "We  would  have  every  inducement  to  die 
like  the  philosophers  we  fancy  ourselves." 


44  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

"  How  so  ? "  demanded  Ward,  gloomily. 

"Simply  because  we  should  not  be  distracted  bv 
frantic  efforts  to  save  ourselves."  This  closed  our  con- 
versation for  perhaps  an  hour.  We  set  our  faces  in 
dogged  determination,  and  walked  as  fast  as  the  un- 
even nature  of  the  river  bed  would  permit.  When 
the  narrow  cailon  succeeded  a  more  open  stretch  it  was 
as  if  the  pitiless  walls  of  fate  were  visibly  closing  in 
upon  us.  rerhaps  I  felt  something  as  soldiers  do  when 
ordered  to  charge  upon  an  earthwork  bristling  with 
hostile  artillery  about  to  vomit  forth  flame  and  death. 
As  we  made  our  way  through  these  terrible  gorges,  the 
rocky  walls  of  what  might  be  our  tomb  seemed,  to  my 
gloom}^  fancy,  to  be  cast  into  a  strange  semblance  to 
some  pitiless  and  malignant  monster.  Yain  as  the  move- 
ment, we  often  turned  to  look  behind  us  to  see  if  the 
waters  were  not  at  our  heels,  then  glancing  at  each 
other  expected  to  be  mocked.  To  have  been  derided 
would  have  been  a  relief,  but  not  one  of  us  was  yet 
free  from  terror  of  what  seemed  each  moment  more 
horrible  a  fate.  When  such  dismal  canons  were  nearly 
penetrated  and  we  could  see  before  us  the  walls  spread- 
ing out,  and  the  river  bed  growing  wider,  a  pressing 
weight  seemed  for  the  moment  lifted  from  our  brains. 

Suddenly  Gillette  glanced  at  his  watch  and  closed  it 
with  a  snap.  Then  lie  gave  a  hearty  laugh.  Ward 
and  I  stopped  short  in  our  tracks  and  looked  at  him  in 
astonishment. 

*^  Why,  cheer  up,"  he  exclaimed.  "  It  is  only  half- 
past  three,  and  our  journey  is  almost  over." 

"  You  don't  say  so,"  said  Ward,  stupidly. 

"Only  half  an  hour's  brisk  walking,"  continued 
Gillette,  "  is  now  between  us  and  Grape  Valley." 

Ward's  face  relaxed.  The  tense  strain  left  his  arms 
and  legs.  Then  he  laughed  as  I  thought  in  a  some- 
what silly  fashion,  though  I  immediately  did  the  same. 

"I'm  tired,"  he  said.  "As  long  as  we  have  an  hour 
and  a  half  to  make  a  half  hour's  triplet  us  rest  a  little." 


An  Exj^eriment  in  Marriage,  45 

Then  he  added  as  he  looked  from  one  to  the  other  of 
us :  "  I  am  conscious  of  having  made  a  very  cowardly 
exhibition  of  myself." 

Gillette  and  I  very  considerately  permitted  Ward  to 
be  the  common  scapegoat,  and  also  to  lead  the  way  to 
a  suitable  spot  for  rest.  It  so  happened  that  at  this 
point  the  river  did  not  occupy  the  whole  of  the  gorge. 
We  saw  another  cleft  in  the  mountains,  and  another 
gorge  on  a  slightly  different  level,  but  running  in  the 
same  general  direction. 

"  Perhaps  the  ancient  course  of  a  river,"  suggested 
Ward.  ''  Why  here  is  a  spring  now.  It  is  a^ctually 
gushing  out  of  the  solid  rock." 

"  j^onsense,"  exclaimed  Gillette,  "  that  is  only  a 
pool  left  by  Kapid  river.  The  river  come^  up  to  this 
level;  you  can  see  the  water  marks  on  the  rock." 

So  we  had  our  laugh  at  Ward,  and  then  climbing 
higher  still  to  the  opening  of  the  second  gorge,  threw 
ourselves  on  the  ground  for  sadly-needed  rest. 

"  While  we  are  resting,  why  not  answer  a  few  ques- 
tions?" suggested  Ward,  looking  at  Gillette.  "It can- 
not be  you  bring  your  grapes  and  wine  for  export  up 
this  narrow  and  uneven  river  bed  ? " 

"No,  we  do  not,"  answered  Gillette.  "This  river 
bed  and  canon  serve  us  merely  as  an  entrance  from  the 
west.  For  exit,  and  for  the  transportation  of  produce 
and  merchandise,  both  ways,  we  use  a  dilferent  route. 
Grape  Yalley  furnishes  a  very  varied  topography,  by 
the  way.  Between  the  northerly  parts  of  our  httle 
country  and  the  extreme  southerly  districts  there  is  al- 
most as  much  difference  in  climate  and  landscape  as 
between  Northern  and  Southern  California,  although 
of  course  our  valley  is  numbered  by  only  a  few  square 
miles.  ^  This  difference  in  climate  is  made  partly  by 
the  variation  in  elevation  and  in  rain-fall,  and  partly  by 
the  fact  that  south  of  us  is  a  sand  desert,  which  seems 
to  absorb  every  particle  of  the  sun's  heat  only  to  give 
it  forth  in  double  intensity.     In  the  upper  portion  o^ 


46  An  Experiment  in  Man^iage. 

our  valley  there  is  good  pasture  for  cattle  and  suitable 
soil  for  ordinary  agriculture,  while  in  the  lower  districts 
grapes  only  can  be  grown  to  an  advantage.  It  is 
through  the  desert  that  our  main  avenue  of  entrance 
and  exit  lies.  The  desert  is,  too,  a  better  guard  and 
outpost  than  ten  thousand  armed  men.  The  outside 
world  does  not  dream  that  a  fertile  valley  lies  at  one 
edge  of  it,  much  less  that  a  happy  colony  of  thousands 
of  souls  have  there  found  practical  solution  for  some 
of  the  hardest  problems  that  ever  vexed  the  human 
mind." 

"  But  I  should  not  think  grape  culture  would  yield 
profit  enough  to  enable  you  to  supply  the  colony  with 
the  necessities  as  well  as  the  luxuries  of  life." 

Gillette^miled.  "  In  the  first  place,  my  dear  Yinton, 
we  do  not  require  the  most  expensive  of  the  luxuries 
of  so-called  civilization,  created  in  response  to  finical 
appetites  and  forced  tastes.  We  find  joy  in  living. 
But  then,  please  remember  that,  in  our  varied  climate, 
we  can  produce  such  plain  food  as  we  may  want  in  our 
valley.  The  products  of  our  vineyards  and  the  treas- 
ures of  our  wine  cellars  ought  certainly  to  be  sold  for 
enough  to  supply  us  with  clothes,  books  and  whatever 
other  articles  are  necessary  to  supply  reasonable  de- 
mands. But  I  may  as  well  tell  you  now,  since  there  is 
no  occasion  to  keep  further  secrets  from  you,  that  we 
have  still  another  source  of  what,  in  your  political 
economy,  may  be  called  wealth.  The  gold  we  find  in 
the  Grape  Valley  placer  mines  serves  excellently  well 
to  barter  with  the  silly  outside  world  for  really  useful 
articles  in  abundance.  To  us  the  gold  is  of  no  value 
except  as  we  impose  on  your  nineteenth  century  folly  to 
procure  what  you  produce  and  we  do  not," 

"You  have  placer  mines  you  say?"  asked  Ward. 

"  Yes,  mines  of  the  good,  old-fashioned  sort.  We 
shovel  the  pay  dirt  into  the  sluices,  turn  on  the  water, 
and  lo,  there  is  the  glistening  gold  left  on  the  riffles 
beneath.     If  all  the  world  were  as  sensible  as  we  of 


A71  Experiment  hi  Marriage.  47 

Grape  Yallej,  the  shining  stuff  would  be  of  little  more 
value  than  so  much  iron.  But  since  we  are  the  only 
socialistic  settlement  on  the  continent,  our  gold  mines 
are  a  decided  benefit  to  ns." 

J^  And  when  all  America  has  become  one  grand  social- 
istic  community,"  suggested  Ward,  satirically,  "  I  sup- 
pose there  will  still  remain  the  slow-moving  old  world 
to  barter  its  wares  for  jour  gold.  It  will  be  a  long 
time  before  gold  and  silver  cease  to  have  a  value  far 
above  tlieir  uses  simply  as  material  for  manufacture." 
As  Ward  spoke  he  took  up  a  handful  of  the  soil  and 
held  it  up :  "  Supposing  this  were  what  you  call  'pay 
dirt.'  If  it  were  rich  with  gold  I  imagine  we  would 
suddenly  go  out  of  our  senses  with  greed.  We  none 
of  us  need  more  wealth  than  we  have,  yet  we  would 
doubtless  go  as  mad  with  lust  of  gold  if  we  made  a  dis- 
covery here  as  any  of  the  half-starved  and  wholly  des- 
perate '  forty-niners.' " 

^  Gillette  cast  an  amused  glance  at  Ward's  handful  of 
dirt,  and  seemed  on  the  point  of  making  a  bright  rep- 
artee. But  what  he  was  about  to  say,  the  w^rld  can 
never  know.  His  attention  was  so  completely  dis- 
tracted, that  he  quite  forgot  it  himself.  The  sm'ile  on 
his  face  gave  place  to  unmistakable  surprise.  He  bent 
forward  and  catching  Ward's  wrist  he  lixed  his  eyes 
intently  on  the  handful  of  yellow  earth. 

"'  Great  heavens,  man,"  he  exclaimed  after  a  moment 
of  vivid  silence,  "that  looks  like  'pay  dirt.'  Per- 
haps you  have  discovered  a  placer  mine." 

"Is  that  gold  ?  "  I  demanded,  leaping  up,  and  for- 
getting every  thing  in  the  world  except  the  boundless 
fortune  that  might  be  at  our  feet.  "  You  can't  mean 
it."  The  announcement  seemed  too  glorious  to  be  true. 
I  had  left  all  the  comforts  of  civilization  and  the  easy 
competence  provided  for  me,  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to 
an  ideal  colony  where  a  higher  law  than  selfishness 
controlled  the  division  of  property,  but  at  the  ex- 
citing thought  that  before  me  lay  the  treasure  which, 


48  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

perhaps,  would  make  me  immensely  rich,  my  devo- 
tion vanished.  My  philosophical  spirit  was  supplanted 
by  the  insensate  hunger  for  gold  as  ancient  as  history, 
as  old  as  our  race. 

But  Gillette  did  not  appear  to  hear  me.  He  had 
suddenly  snatched  his  hat  from  his  head  and  begun 
to  take  from  Ward's  hand  the  last  grain  of  earth.  Then 
he  cried  in  a  shrill  voice : 

"  Where  was  it  you  found  this  dirt  ?  show  me  the 
very  spot,  the  verj^  sj)ot." 

Before  Ward,  however,  could  do  his  bidding,  Gil- 
lette's keen  eyes  liad  sought  out  the  place  where  the  soil 
had  been  disturbed,  and  falling  upon  his  knees  he  im- 
mediately caught  up  two  more  handfuls  resembling 
the  first  in  appearance,  and  deposited  them  in  his  hat, 
and  then  more,  until  his  hat  was  nearly  full. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  ?  "  almost  gasped  Ward, 
apparently  nearly  unbalanced  by  the  sudden  influx  of 
new  ideas.  I,  however,  had  already  guessed  the  mean- 
ing of  the  actions  of  my  companion,  and  had  my  hat 
half  filled  with  the  same  precious  earth  by  the  time  he 
rose  to  his  feet. 

"  Come  and  see  for  yourself,"  answered  Gillette, 
without  looking  around,  as  he  started  to  the  little  pool  of 
water  which  we  had  passed  as  we  climbed  from  the 
river  bed.  I  followed  him  hat  in  hand,  and  Ward 
watched  us  both  in  amazement. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

In  amomeDt  more  Gillette  had  dipped  Ins  hat  into 

the  pool  and  filled  it  brimfull  of  water      I  followed 

his  example  and  then  imitated  Inm  as  he   shook  the 

improvised  pan  so  as  to  thoroughly  wet  the  eaith  and 

turned  it  so  as  to  throw  a  little  of  it  out  at  a   tnne. 

Then  we  refilled  our  hats  with  water  and  resumed  the 

shaking  and  tipping  process  until  the  few  l^^ndf uls  of 

earth  in  each  receptacle  were   reduced   to  less    han  a 

tablespoonf  ul.     Then  we  threw  more  of  the  earth  into 

onr  hats  and  returned  to  the  pool.  i      i?   t. 

By  this  time  Ward   had  recovered   enough  ot    his 

senses  to  understand  what  we  were  about,  and  he  stood 

between  us  looking  first  into  one  extemporized   pan 

and  then  into  another   with  an  excited  interest  not  a 

particle  less  than  our  own. 

^  "  Be  careful,"  he  cried,  as  first  Gillette  and  then  I 
filled  our  hats  for  the  last  time  at  the  pool.  he  very 
careful  or  you  will  lose  it  all." 

No  need  to  warn  us.  No  starving  beggar  could  be 
more  careful  with  his  last  crust  of  bread.  ^  No  tremb- 
lino.  miser  could  be  more  cautious  as  he  hiaes  tlie  coin 
he'^worships.  Gently  we  shook  our  hats  until  the 
water  became  discolored  again  with  the  dissolving 
earth.  Slowly  and  with  many  a  nervous  recovery,  we 
poured  out  the  muddy  water.  -,  ,tt    j  a 

The  last  drop  of  water  was  emptied  and  Ward  peered 
eagerly  into  Gillette's  hat.  I  dared  not  look  yet  lor 
the  result  of  my  own  experiment.  I  waited  for  Ward 
to  return  the  verdict  of  success  or  failure.     I  thought 


50  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

to  read  it  on  liis  face.  If  lie  saw  the  hoped  for  grains 
of  gold,  I  should  see  a  sudden  lighting  up  of  his 
countenance.  A  smile  would  relieve  the  stern  lines  of 
his  mouth.  But  his  face  did  not  change.  I  could  see 
his  eyelids  move  as  his  glance  wandered  from  side  to 
side  of  the  bottom  of  the  hat.  My  heart  sank  within 
me.  I  did  not  need  to  wait  for  words.  It  was  a  fail- 
ure. Gillette  had  been  deceived  in  thinking  there  was 
gold  in  the  vile  earth.  A  sudden  despair  of  life  seized 
upon  me.  I  dreaded  the  thought  of  existence  without 
the  boundless  fortune  of  which  I  had  imagined  myself 
already  the  possessor.  Then  a  hot  indignation  for  Gil- 
lette burned  in  my  heart.  I  could  have  killed  him 
where  he  stood,  white-faced  and  agonized  at  the  catas- 
trophe.    Now  came  Ward's  dreaded  words : 

'^  There  is  no  gold  here."  Then  he  added,  fiercely, 
voicing  my  madness :  "  Curse  you  for  a  fool."  In  a 
sudden  frenzy  I  threw  my  shapeless  hat  to  the  ground 
and  stamped  upon  it. 

"  I  feel  more  like  a  devil  than  a  man,"  I  cried,  haK 
conscious  of  my  degradation,  though  unable  to  rise 
above  it.  As  for  Gillette,  he  gave  Ward,  and  then 
me,  a  dazed  look,  and  in  a  moment  more,  aimlessly,  as 
it  seemed,  lifted  his  hat  and  peered  into  it.  Suddenly 
he  gave  a  veritable  scream  of  delight,  and  reaching  out 
his  hand,  fairly  dragged  Ward  to  him. 

"  This  is  gold,  man,  real  gold,"  he  said.  "  Were 
you  blind?" 

I  looked  over  Ward's  shoulder,  as  drawing  back  a 
fold  of  the  lining  of  the  hat,  Gillette  showed  a  little 
pinch  of  gold  dust. 

"  Look  at  yours  now,"  exclaimed  Gillette,  his  pallor 
giving  place  to  a  vivid  flush  on  either  cheek.  And  as 
I  stood,  half  stunned  at  the  sudden  transition  from  de- 
spair to  triumph,  he  took  up  my  hat  and  looked  into  it. 

"Better  yet,"  he  cried.  '''Half  a  salt  spoonful  of 
gold."  And  he  held  the  shapeless  piece  of  felt  for- 
ward for  us  to  look  into  it. 


A71  Experiment  in  Marriage.  51 

"If  you  had  only  looked  closer,"  he  a.dded,  ''you 
would  have  saved  us  all  an  awful  moment  of  suffering.'' 
But  Ward  had  no  sooner  seen  the  second  little  pmch 
of  o-old  than  he  tore  lus  hat  from  his  head,  and  rush- 
ino-'^to  the  spot  where  we  had  made  the  beginning  of 
aif  excavation,  fell  upon  his  knees  and  dug  his  nails 
deep  into  the  earth.  Then  he  too  hurried  to  the  pool 
and  beo-an  to  wash  for  the  remnant  of  gold,  as  (jiilette 
and  I  had  done,  who  now  stood  watching  liira  as  he 
had  watched  us. 

"  I  have  more  than  either  of  you,"  he  cried  witii  a 
delio-ht  that  was  almost  ferocious,  as  he  examined  for 
results.  "Now,  where  shall  we  put  what  we  have, 
while  we  wash  for  more  ? "  ^       ^^       x.-  f 

Gillette  drew  from  his  pocket  a  large  handkerchiet 
and  spread  it  on  the  ground  near  the  pool.  ''We 
mio-ht  scrape  our  savings  into  this,"  he  said,  and  suit- 
in(?the  action  to  the  word  he  turned  his  hat  mside  out, 
and  its  contents  made  a  pretty  little  yellow  heap  on  the 
white  linen.  Instead  of  using  the  common  receptacle 
proposed,  Ward,  however,  made  a  separate  treasure- 
house  for  himself,  and  I,  although  struggling  with  a 
not  wholly  lost  sense  of  shame,  also  made  a  little  heap 
of  my  own.  Then,  without  even  looking  each  other 
in  the  face  again,  we  returned  to  the  place  where  we 
had  first  filfed  our  hats,  and  threw  in  the  proper 
amount  of  the  precious  soil.  From  the  new-lound  mine 
we  again  went  to  the  pool,  and,  standing  on  difterent 
sides,  tilled  and  refilled  our  strange  basins,  shook,  and 
dipped  and  poured  without  a  word,  but  with  ill-con- 
cealed rivalry,  until  the  pinch  of  gold  was  discovered 
at  the  bottom.  Then  each  betook  himself  to  the  spot 
where  lay  his  own  handkerchief  and  scraped  out  the 
yellow  metal,  most  potent  of  all  created  poisons  to  set 
friends  at  variance  and  make  even  brothers  hate  each 

other.  .  .  Il^^    ^ 

Again  and  again,  and  many  times  apiin  ^^^e  hi  led 

our  hats  with  the  gold-tainted  earth,  until,  where  Ward 


52  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

had  caught  np  tliat  first  Jiandf  ul,  with  most  apt  philos- 
ophy,  there  was  a  hole  deep  enough  to  barj  a  child. 
The  little  piles  of  gold  in  the  handkerchief,  over  which 
each  of  us  gloated  as  he  made  a  new  deposit,  grew 
lustily,  Ward's  most  of  all,  much  to  the  envy  of  Gil- 
lette and  myself.  So  intent  were  we  in  gathering 
treasure,  that  we  did  not  notice  that  our  pool  of  water 
was  rapidly  disappearing.  At  last,  however,  Gillette 
had  just  with  difficulty  dipped  enough  water  into  his 
hat  to  advance  its  contents  another  stage  toward  reduc- 
tion, when  Ward  bent  forward,  looked  into  the  hollow 
where  the  pool  had  been  and  exclaimed  : 

"  The  water  is  all  gone." 

His  voice  sounded  strange  and  harsh,  breaking  a 
long  silence. 

I  had  just  finished  with  a  washing  and  was  examin- 
ing, with  contemptible  joy,  the  pinch  of  gold  which 
was  my  last  prize.  Gillette  was  busily  shaking  and 
twirling  his  hat,  and  made  no  response.  He  was  only 
anxious  to  make  the  most  of  the  water  which  he  had 
just  taken. 

"  See  here,"  continued  Ward,  fiercely,  "  you  had 
no  right  to  take  the  last  drop  in  the  pool." 

"  Why  not  as  much  right  as  you  would  have  \ " 
retorted  Gillette,  pouring  off  some  muddy  water, 
watched  by  Ward  as  thirsty  castaways  might  watch  a 
glittering  raindrop. 

"  Because  another  hatful  of  water  would  have  cleaned 
my  dust,  and  it  has  done  you  no  good,"  insisted  Ward. 

By  this  time  Gillette  had  poured  off  the  water  from 
his  hat,  and  saw  that  the  remaining  contents  had  as  yet 
very  little  resemblance  to  gold. 

^'  Your  success  wouldn't  have  helped  me,"  he  an- 
swered, and  then  he  turned  his  hat  inside  out  upon 
the  ground  in  disgust,  as  he  added  :  ''  Any  more  than 
this  does." 

Ward  looked  almost  ready  to  spring  upon  Gillette, 
so  maddened  was  he  with  disappointed  covetousness. 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  53 

But  instead,  tlu-usting  Lis  hand  into  liis  hat  he  drew 
out  its  contents  and  threw  them  at  his  feet. 

''  We  have  loitered  here  long  enough,"  1  said  with 
returning  reason.  "  It  is  fortunate  the  water  gave  out 
when  it  did." 

"Yes,"  exclaimed  Gillette  hurriedly,  "we  can  come 
back ;  there  is  a  fortune  for  us  all  here." 

In  five  minutes  more  each  of  us  had  taken  up  his 
handkerchief  with  its  burden  of  gold,  and  put  it  in  his 
pocket,  and  we  were  all  hnriying  down  the  river  bed 
on  our  interrupted  course.  For  a  few  rods  we  kept 
silence,  and  then  Ward  remarked: 

''That  mine  comes  at  the  beginning  of  another  canon, 
you  remember.  Do  you  suppose  that  it  leads  to  your 
valley?" 

"  1  haven't  the  least  idea,"  answered  Gillette.  "  It 
looks  like  an  ancient  river  bed,  but  whether  it  leads  to 
Grape  Yalley  or  to  the  south,  I  cannot  even  guess.  We 
can  explore  it  sometime." 

A  very  nnpleasant  impression  had  been  growing  upon 
me  for  some  minutes.  It  was  that  more  time  had 
passed  while  we  had  been  searching  for  gold  than  we 
had  been  conscious  of.  We  had  had  an  hour  and  a 
half  to  get  to  Grape  Yalley  when  we  sat  do\Tn  to  rest, 
and  only  a  half  hour  s  walk  before  us.  We  stih  had  a 
trip  to  take  which  would  require  half  an  hour.  The 
query  kept  presenting  itself  to  my  mind,  how  much  of 
that  hour  and  a  half  was  left  to  us?  .  Again  and  again 
I  put  my  hand  on  my  watch,  determined  to  know  the 
v7orst.     But  each  time  I  faltered. 

We  were  apparently  now  going  at  nearly  our  best 
speed.  If  there  were  time  to  get  out  of  the  canon 
before  the  fateful  hour  of  five,  when  Rapid  river  was 
to  resume  its  course,  why  we  should  be  saved.  ^  If  not, 
what  need  to  anticipate  the  death  agony  ?  But  if  it  were 
no  later  than  half-past  four,  we  were  safe.  If  it  were 
twenty  minutes  to  five,  by  hurrying  we  might  still 
make  our  escape.     At  this"  point  in  my  reasoning  I 


54  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

would  see  how  important  it  might  be  for  us  to  know 
the  exact  time  at  once.  There  might  be  only  a  matter 
of  a  few  hasty  strides,  at  the  last,  between  us  and 
death. 

But  then  the  thought  would  strike  me  that  I  might 
find  the  threatening  hands  at  fifteen  minutes  to  five,  or 
even  nearer  still  to  that  hour.  My  hand  again  fal- 
tered. Perhaps  it  was  even  past  five.  Perhaps  Rapid 
river  was  already  rushing  upon  our  track  with  murder- 
ous haste.  Gillette  had  told  us  that  it  took  but  seven 
minutes  for  the  water  to  make  the  whole  seven  miles. 
To  reach  the  spot  where  we  now  were  would  requiie 
less  than  six  minutes.  If  it  were  five  minutes  past  five 
our  doom  was  already  sealed.  In  an  instant  more  a 
terrible  roar  would  burst  upon  our  ears.  It  seemed  to 
me  I  already  heard  the  sound  of  the  rushing  waters. 

I  stopped  short  and  looked  behind  me. 

When  I  made  this  significant  movement,  my  com- 
panions turned  too,  and  the  color  forsook  their  cheeks, 
as  it  had  doubtless  forsaken  mine.  But  there  was  no 
foaming  tide  of  water  pouring  between  the  lofty  walls. 
There  was  not  a  sound.  Then  we  looked  each  other 
in  the  face,  and  Gillette  slowly  drew  out  his  watch. 

"We  are  all  thinking  of  the  same  thing,"  he  said  in 
an  unsteady  voice.  "  It  will  be  better  to  know  the 
truth." 

It  seemed  a  full  minute  before  he  pressed  the  spring 
which  op>ened  his  hunting-case.  The  case  rose  as  slowly 
as  if  it  were  an  immense  weight  being  raised  by  a  der- 
rick. 

Then  Gillette's  lips  moved,  and  he  gave  us  the  time. 

"•  Four  minutes  to  five." 

For  a  moment  we  stood  stilL  The  awful  suspense 
was  over.  We  knew  the  worst.  There  were  less  than 
eleven  minutes  between  Rapid  river  and  us,  but,  per- 
haps, there  was  a  chance  for  us  to  escape  from  the  cafion 
before  the  water  swept  through  it — just  a  chance. 
Then  Gillette's  voice  sounded  out,  shrill  and  tense  : 


An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage,  55 

"  Run  for  your  lives." 

We  needed  no  second  call.  As  Gillette  spoke,  he 
turned  and  led  the  way  down  the  gloomy  gorge  at  a 
fast  trot,  followed  first  by  Ward,  and  then  by  me.  I 
was  but  four  years  out  of  the  college  where  I  had 
been  a  famous  football  player,  and  I  was  sure  I  could 
have  outstripped  Gillette  if  I  had  chosen.  But  Ward 
was  my  senior  by  a  dozen  years,  and  a  man  entii'ely 
unaccustomed  to  violent  exercise.  I  felt  required  by 
common  humanity  to  keep  behind  my  friend  so  as  to 
help  him  to  his  feet  if  he  fell,  to  keep  up  his  courage, 
too,  and  banish  the  thought  that  he  was  far  in  the  rear 
and  alone. 

The  probabilities  were  we  should  be  overtaken  by 
the  furious  waters,  but  I  thought  that  to  live  with  the 
ever  present  consciousness  of  being  a  coward  would 
be  more  unpleasant  and  infinitely  less  inspiring  than 
an  honorable  death.  As  I,  perhaps,  made  clear  sonae 
pages  back,  the  river  bed  was  a  most  uneven  and  un- 
certain path.  Sometimes  the  sides  of  the  canon  came 
so  close  together  that  there  was  scarce  room  for  two 
men  to  pass  abreast  between  them.  Sometimes  huo-e 
bowlders  obstructed  the  way.  More  often  ragged  ledges 
of  rock  projected  up  from  beneath,  or  inward  from  the 
sides.  A  more  difficult  course  fur  runners  could  not 
have  been  made  by  design.  We  could  hardly  plant 
both  feet  on  a  level  plane.  It  was  hard  enough  for  a 
college  athlete  only  a  trifle  out  of  practice,  but  for 
poor  Ward  it  could  have  been  little  less  than  intoler- 
able agony.  It  was  only  indomitable  will  that  could 
have  kept  him  at  all  in  this  well  nigh  hopeless  race  for 
life. 

Gillette  passed  out  of  our  sight  at  the  first  turn  of 
the  gorge,  and  we  saw  him  no  more.  A  pang  of  dis- 
may shot  through  me  as  he  disappeared.  A  new  hope- 
lessness came  over  me,  and  I  know  over  Ward.  But 
immediately  T  ceased  to  blame  him.  He  could  not 
have  helped  us  by  sacrificing  his  own  chances  for  life. 


56  A7i  Ex'periment  in  Marriage. 

It  could  be  no  consolation  to  Ward  and  me,  when  the 
mad  waters  should,  in  a  very  few  minutes,  overwhelm 
US,  that  a  third  victim  should  be  also  sacrificed.  I  think 
we  were  both  magnanimous  enough  even  in  our  own 
despair  to  wish  our  former  comrade's  escape. 

The  wonderful  endurance  of  my  friend,  Ward,  com- 
polled  an  admiration  greater  than  I  had  ever  before 
entertained  for  him.  Here  was  a  darling  of  fortune, 
a  pet  of  destiny,  who  had  never  until  now  known  a 
discomfort  or  suffered  an  inconvenience.  He  had  not 
so  much  as  suspected  that  he  had  muscles  such  as  the 
less  favored  use  for  hard  work.  He  fell  over  project- 
ing rocks,  and  rose  bleeding,  but  it  was  only  to  rush  on 
the  faster.  He  staggered  against  bowlders,  until  I 
thought  he  must  have  broken  every  bone  in  his  tor- 
mented body,  but  he  did  not  utter  more  than  the  first 
inarticulate  groan.  Plis  breathing  was  as  loud  as  that  of  a 
*' roaring"  horse,  but  still  he  pressed  on  in  an  unsteady 
trot,  his  liands  bleeding  from  his  almost  continual  falls, 
his  face  bruised  from  frequent  collisions  with  the  piti- 
less rock.  His  spirit  was  miglity  still,  and  whipped  on 
the  poor,  broken,  but  unflagging  body.  I  shall  always 
feel  that  it  was  more  for  my  sake  than  to  save  his  own 
life,  that  Ward  made  such  a  sublime  battle.  He  had 
too  much  lionor  himself  not  to  know  that  it  was  im- 
possible for  me  to  desert  him.  He. must  have  longed 
most  intensely  to  throw  himself  face  downward  in  the 
fatal  canon,  and  wait  for  the  death  that  was  already  on 
our  track,  whose  damp  breath  was  ah-eady  in  the  air. 
For  my  sake,  not  for  his  own,  he  made  a  struggle  and 
endured  an  agony  to  which  sudden  death  could  not  but 
seem  a  pleasure  by  comparison,  and  endured  it  too  on 
a  bare  chance  of  thus  saving  my  life. 

So  we  ran  on  our  devious  course  turning  again  and 
again  on  itself  as  took  us  around  the  mountains.  Be- 
side us  still  rose  the  walls  of  our  narrow  cell,  thousands 
of  feet  to  the  sky,  before  us  what  seemed  a  solid  face  of 
rock,  opening  as  we  drew  nearer  for  the  narrow  gorge 


An  Ex^e7'ime7it  in  Marriage.  57 

to  make  another  turn.  Then  it  came  over  us  tliat  our 
time  must  have  elapsed.  I  drew  out  my  watch,  and 
found  it  was  three  minutes  past  live. 

"  We  have  but  three  minutes  to  hve,"  1  cried.  "  Let 
us  sit  down  and  die  in  peace."  Certainly  it  would  have 
been  a  short  death  agony.  The  canon  was  very  nar- 
row at  this  place,  and  the  raging  waters,  half  their  way 
down  the  course  by  this  time,  would  have  come  upon 
us  with  almost  the  force  of  a  battering  ram. 

But  Ward  shook  his  head  and  still  pressed  on.  He 
stumbled  over  a  projecting  stone  and  fell  his  full  length. 
]  raised  him  to  his  feet  and  tried  to  stay  him.  It  seemed 
ahiiost  infamous  to  struggle  so  frantically  in  a  hopeless 
light  for  life.  The  blood  flowed  from  new  cuts  on 
his  face,  become  positively  dreadful  with  its  fierce  de- 
termination to  vanquish  fate  and  death,  and  in  its  start- 
ling contrast  of  marble  hke  whiteness  and  the  crimson 
tint  of  his  bleeding  wounds.  But  he  threw  my  hand 
from  his  arm  with  a  strength  I  could  not  have  believed 
he  retained,  and  still  staggered  on.  And  it  is  to  his  un- 
conquerable determination  that,  as  it  happened,  we  both 
owe  our  lives.  At  the  very  next  turn  of  the  river 
course  the  longed  for  Grape  Valley  lay  open  before  us 
and  a  paradise  it  certainly  seemed  to  our  eyes.  In  the 
distance  at  the  south  were  vast  areas  of  vineyards, 
while  to  the  north- were  green  fields  and  verdant  pas- 
tures with  cattle.  In  the  middle,  on  the  banks  of  a 
placid  stream  that  flowed  from  the  north,  were  the 
houses  and  streets  of  a  little  city.  The  promised  land 
was  before  us,  and  we  had  been  permitted  to  see  its 
beauties,  but  as  I  remembered  how  few  seconds  sepa- 
rated the  pursuing  river  from  us,  I  saw  little  reason 
to  believe  we  should  ever  enter  that  city  alive. 

Still  we  ran  on.  The  mountains  drew  farther  apart 
at  every  step,  and  if  we  could  have  had  but  two  minutes 
more  of  time,  we  should  have  reached  a  point  where 
to  clamber  up  a  gentle  slope  would  have  placed  us  out 
of  danger.  I  was  running  now  by  Ward's  side,  hold- 
8 


58  A7i  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

ing  his  hand  in  mine,  and  we  had  ahnost  reached  the 
spot  we  struggled  for.  But  my  companion's  feet  seemed 
Hke  lead;  his  limbs  to  be  stricken  with  paralysis;  I  had 
fairly  to  drag  him  along. 

Then  came  an  awful  roar  behind  us,  as  if  a  thousand 
fierce  JSTnmidian  lions  had  broken  loose,  and  the  resist- 
less waters  of  Kapid  river  sprang  upon  their  prey. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

"When  I  recovered  consciousness  I  was  in  a  bed.  So 
much  I  knew  without  opening  my  eyes.  A  real 
earthly  bed  !  After  enjoying  for  a  few  minutes,  with  a 
new  zest,  the  sense  of  existence,  I  opened  my  eyes. 
Above  me,  as  I  might  have  expected,  was  a  ceiling, 
not  of  plaster,  however.  Since  plaster  had  always 
seemed  to  me  one  of  the  worst  of  the  bad  features  of 
our  effete  civilization  I  at  once  congratulated  myself 
on  having  found  a  place  where  it  w^as  not;  undoubtedly 
Grape  Yalley.     But  how  did  I  come  here  ? 

The  last  clear  remembrance  I  had  was  of  seeing  the 
valley  as  it  spread  out  most  alluringly  before  my  de- 
spairing eyes,  and  of  doing  my  best  to  get  out  of  the 
course  of  Rapid  river.  Then  came  the  dreadful  roar 
behind  us,  and  I  knew  no  more.  Yes,  I  had  a  vague 
i-emembrance  of  a  sense  of  cold,  and  a  sudden  shock. 
Now  I  awake  to  find  myself  in  Grape  Yalley  after  all. 
But  how  I  came  here  was  quite  beyond  even  my  ready 
l)0\vers  of  speculation.  I  am  sure  I  need  not  pause  to 
explain  at  length  why  it  was  I  was  convinced  I  was  in 
Grape  Yalley.  At  last  accounts  I  was  in  the  course 
of  Rapid  river.  Rapid  river  was  on  its  way  to  Grape 
Yalley,  and  I  must  either  be  in  Grape  Yalley  or  inthe 
other  world.  The  other  world  hyj)othesis  was  quite 
absurd  and  untenable. 

Having  inspected  the  ceiling  to  my  satisfaction  I 
decided  to  turn  on  my  side,  and  change  my  point  of 
view.  But  what  a  pain  there  came  into  the  back  of 
my  head  when  I  attempted  to  move  !  I  shall  feel  that 
pain   by  association  of  ideas  whenever  I  call  to  my 


60  A7i  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

mind  that  moment,  all  the  rest  of  mj  life.  I  groaned 
aloud,  and  decided  not  to  incur  further  painful  experi- 
ences. If  lying  still  prevented  them,  I  would  lie  still 
indefinitely.  When  the  pain  in  my  head  stopped  I 
was  disposed  to  resume  my  study  of  the  ceiling,  and 
so  I  opened  my  eyes  again. 

But  this  time  I  did  not  see  the  ceiling  at  all.  An 
object  was  interposed,  nothing  else  than  a  beautiful 
woman's  face.  It  seemed  to  me  the  most  lovely  face 
I  had  ever  seen,  although  I  was  always  staring  at 
women  from  boyhood.  It  was  framed  and  crowned 
with  red  gold  hair  which  glistened  in  the  light.  Her 
skin  was  as  fair  as  a  child's,  but  her  gentle  and  tender 
blue  eyes  seemed  to  bless  me  as  they  looked  into  mine. 
Then  her  lips  parted  in  a  smile,  and  1  caught  her  breath, 
like  that  of  a  rose  before  the  morning's  dew  has 
left  it. 

''  Y  ou  are  better  ? "  she  said  softly,  as  only  a  woman 
can  speak  to  the  sick.  "  But  you  must  not  move  your 
head,  it  was  badly  hurt."  Then  I  felt  her  hands 
readjusting  the  pillows  at  my  side  and  smoothing  the 
coverlet.  I  tried  to  speak,  but  my  lips  and  throat 
were  so  parched  the  voice  refused  to  come.  Her  quick 
eyes  noticed  my  plight. 

"  You  are  thirsty  \  "  and  in  a  moment  more  she  held 
a  teaspoon ful  of  liquid  to  my  mouth. 

"  Who  is  it?  "  1  murmured. 

''  Oh,  I  am  Kate,"  she  smiled.  "  But  you  must  not 
talk,  the  doctor  says."  She  added:  "Y^ou  must  try 
not  even  to  think."  Then  she  drew  herself  back,  and 
I  could  not  tell  whether  she  remained  in  the  room  or 
not. 

I  did  very  little  thinking  for  some  days  to  come.  I 
was  conscious  of  seeing  something  very  beautiful  when 
Kate's  face  came  between  mine  and  the  ceiling.  I 
was  soothed  by  her  gentle  voice  and  tender  tones,  and 
was  quite  too  sick  a  man  to  care  to  understand  or  to 
investigate  more  than  was  necessary.     I   rather   pre- 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  61 

ferred  mystery,  as  it  helped  to  muddle  my  brain,  and  to 
put  me  into  the  delightful  naps  which  I  have  coveted 
ever  since.  I  wondered  vaguely  whether  Gillette  had 
escaped  entirely  without  injury,  and  bestowed  a  some- 
what misty  regret  on  my  poor  friend  Ward,  who  I 
concluded  must  have  been  lost.  Ward  was  a  good  fel- 
low. I  should  never  have  such  another  friend.  But 
the  realities  were  indistinct  in  those  hours  of  sickness, 
all  but  the  sweet  and  winning  beauty  of  Kate' s  face  as 
I  saw  it  come  between  mine  and  the  ceiling  at  inter- 
vals, the  length  of  which  I  was  unable  to  estimate. 

But  at  last  I  grew  better.  My  brain  seemed  to  have 
resumed  its  ordinary  powers.  I  knew  I  was  myself 
again  because  I  began  to  be  impatient  at  confinement, 
to  fret  and  worry  over  the  mystery  which  enveloped 
me.  I  wondered  where  my  nurse  was.  How  neglectful 
it  was  of  her  to  leave  me !  I  refused  to  consider  that 
nurses  must  eat  and  sleep  like  other  mortals.  I  became 
particularly  anxious  to  give  her  a  scolding.  I  was 
surely  getting  into  the  normal  state  of  man  very  fast. 
Then  1  heard  a  light  step  across  the  room  and  the  fair 
face  bent  over  mine  with  an  almost  maternal  movement. 
A  true  woman  is  as  much  a  mother  as  a  sweetheart. 
How  fresh  her  face,  how  limpid  her  large  eyes,  how 
divinely  her  lips  parted  as  if  for  a  kiss ;  no,'  it  was  a 
smile  she  gave  me,  bright  and  gracious  as  a  mother's 
for  her  waking  child.  My  impatience  left  me.  I  tried 
to  think  of  a  new  and  most  tender  of  names  for  her. 

^'  I  have  good  news  for  you,"  she  said,  in  her  clear, 
full  tones,  "you  can  turn  in  your  bed  and  look  around." 

"Is  that  all,  Kate?"  and-  I  too  essayed  a  winning 
smile.     But  I  was  conscious  of  a  dead  failure. 

"  Who  told  you  my  name  was  Kate  ?  "  she  demanded, 
with  a  light  laugh  that  disclosed  two  glistening  rows 
of  teeth.  "Oh,  I  remember,  I  did  myself.  What? 
You  want  more  privileges?  Well,  perhaps  bye  and 
bye  you  can  talk  a  little." 

Then  she  moved  my  pillows,  while  I  turned  upon 


62  A7i  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

mj  side.  The  pain  had  left  the  back  of  my  head,  but 
how  weak  I  was.  1  had  never  been  sick  before,  and 
had  perhaps  not  been  able  to  properly  sympatliize  with 
invalids.  But  I  shall  not  soon  forget  the  sullen  mutiny 
of  my  muscles,  enervated  as  they  were  by  fever,  when 
my  still  healthy  will  commanded  them  to  work.  A 
sudden  light  of  compassion  illumined  the  woman's 
face,  and  she  bent  and  passed  her  round  arms  about  my 
shoulders,  and  put  her  strength  with  mine.  Her  gol- 
den hair  brushed  my  forehead,  then  her  cheeks,  firm, 
soft  and  warm,  touched  my  unshaven  face.  My 
heart  gave  a  great  throb,  and  pumped  the  dull  blood 
into  each  startled  vein  and  artery.  For  an  instant  I 
was  strong.  But  Kate  had  suddenly  released  me,  and 
her  face  was  turned  away,  as  she  busied  herself  in  ad- 
justing the  medicines  on  the  table  by  the  bed.  Was 
that  a  flush  which  seemed  to  be  spreading  over  her 
neck  and  averted  cheek,  or  was  it  the  pink  light  from 
the  window  curtain  ?  What  had  I  done?  Could  it  be 
I  had  kissed  that  perfumed  cbeek  as  it  touched  my 
face?  If  she  became  offended  with  me,  I  must  then 
plead  as  extenuation  some  remnant  of  the  fever  clinging 
to  my  brain.  Surely  a  man  as  sick  as  I  had  been  was 
not  wholly  responsible. 

But  whether  my  brain  was  disordered  or  not,  I  re- 
tained enough  of  the  good  judgment  upon  which  I  once 
had  prided  myself,  to  know  better  than  to  launch  at 
once  into  conversation.  There  is  no  social  rule 
more  safe  to  follow  than  this :  when  you  don't  know 
what  to  say,  say  nothing.  From  my  changed  position 
in  the  bed,  I  could  see  what  then  seemed  to  me  almost 
enough  of  the  world.  Every  movement  of  the  beauti- 
ful woman,  who  permitted  me  to  call  her  Kate,  was 
beneath  my  eyes.  Opposite  me  was  an  open  window, 
with  a  pot  of  fragrant  flowers  at  either  side,  and  with 
out  were  green  fields,  a  glistening  river  and  a  summer 
sky.  This  world  seemed  excellent  to  me  at  that  mo- 
ment, almost  perfect.    How  stupid  of  mankind  to  turn  it 


All  Experiment  iii  Marriage.  63 

into  a  place  of  torment.  But  this  was  Grape  Yalley,  the 
people  of  which,  as  Gillette  had  assured  me,  had  agreed 
on  a  reasonable  existence ;  had  consented  to  work  to- 
gether instead  of  at  cross  purposes,  to  help  to  build  up 
instead  of  to  destroy  all  that  is  worth  living  for.  Alas  ! 
for  poor  Ward.  His  thirst  for  knowledge  had  cost  him 
his  hfe,  a  life  which  he  could  have  spent  in  a  spot 
where  it  was  made  possible  for  men  to  be  happy. 

"  Kate,"  I  called,  and  she  turned  toward  me.  If 
she  had  been  blushing  there  was  no  sign  of  it  now  on 
her  calm,  fair  face.  If  she  had  been  angry  there  was 
no  hint  of  wrath  or  indignation  now  in  her  wide,  open 
eyes,  or  in  the  gentle  curves  of  her  mouth.  "I  want 
to  ask  you  about  my  friend,  Mr.  Ward."  My  voice 
was  faint  and  my  breath  a  little  uncertain,  but  it  was  a 
relief  to  speak  even  thus.     "  Did  they  find  his  body  ? " 

''  Oh,  yes,"  she  answered,  with  a  quiet  laugh.  I  ex- 
perienced a  sense  of  shock  at  her  lack  of  seriousness. 
But  perhaps  the  people  of  Grape  Yalley  had  a  religion 
which  can  indeed  rob  deatli  of  its  terrors,  the  grave  of 
its  gloom.  It  would  be  as  well  worth  studying  as  its 
social  innovations.  "They  found  his  body,"  Kate 
continued,  "  and  its  spirit  had  not  left  it." 

"  Ton  don't  mean  to  say  Ward  is  alive  ? "  I  ex- 
claimed, in  excitement. 

"  He  was  not  as  seriously  injured  as  you  were,  al- 
though he  may  be  confined  to  his  bed  longer.  He 
was  badly  bruised,  but  his  injuries  were  not  on  his 
head." 

"Why,"  I  exclaimed,  "it  was  little  less  than  a 
miracle  that  we  both  should  be  saved." 

"  No,"  she  answered,  drawing  a  chair  up  to  the  bed- 
side, "  not  a  miracle  at  all.  It  happened  in  this  way. 
Mr.  Gillette  had  given  the  alarm  to  a  numlier  of  us 
who  were  returning  to  the  city  with  a  load  of  grapes. 
You  were  both  of  you  taken  from  the  water  within  ^vq 
minutes  of  the  time  the  river  overtook  you." 

"  Gillette  —  where  is  he  now  T' 


^4:  An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage, 

"He  was  obliged  to  start  almost  immediately  on 
another  business  trip.  It  will  be  a  fortnight  before  he 
will  return." 

I  relapsed  into  silence.  I  was  alone,  then,  among 
strangers,  sick  and  alone.  The  sun,  which  a  moment 
ago  had  been  shining  so  cheerfully  into  the  window, 
went  under  a  cloud.  The  river,  in  the  distance,  lost 
its  sheen,  and  took  on  the  appearance  to  my  eye  of  a 
black,  baleful  serpent  of  monstrous  proportions.  Even 
the  woman  by  my  side,  I  fancied,  had  a  distrait  ex- 
pression on  her  face.  Doubtless  she  wished  herself 
rid  of  the  burden  of  the  sick  stranger. 

"  How  did  I  come  here  ?  "  I  asked,  wearily. 

She  rose  and   bent  over  me,  taking  my  hot  hands 


to  go  to  sleep?" 

I  nodded  my  head.  She  did  not  seat  herself,  but 
still  stood  cooling  my  hands  with  hers. 

"  I  told  you  that  I  was  with  a  party  from  the  vine- 
yards, which  Mr.  Gillette  called  to  tlie  rescue.  AVhen 
you  were  taken  from  the  river  limp  and  white  as  death 
itself,  though  without  disfiguring  wounds  or  bruises,  I 
took  your  head  in  my  lap,  and  dried  your  face  with 
my  handkerchief.  It  was  I  who  forced  the  few  drops 
of  brandy  between  your  lips  which  made  you  breathe 
again.     The  others  had  thought  you  dead,  but  I  could 

not  believe  that  death  looked  so  beautiful 1  mean 

,"  and   her   hands   trembled,  I   fancied,  as   they 

touched  mine.  "  [  thought  that  the  spirit  had  not 
left  your  body  yet,  and  when  you  gave  the  first  sign 
of  life,  nothing  would  suit  me  but  to  be  permitted 
to  nurse  you  back  to  health.  So  you  were  brought  here, 
and  here  you  are  recovering.  Now  to  sleep,"  and, 
without  so  much  as  a  look  behind  her,  Kate  left  the 
room. 

But  my  sense  of  loneliness  had  gone.     In  its  place 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  66 

was  a  sweet  peace  and  satisfaction  which  I  did  not  care 
to  analyze.  A  deh'ghtful  languor  distilled  through  my 
veins,  and  I  dropped  away  into  such  sleep  as  opium- 
eaters  describe. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

In  another  week  the  physician  gave  the  long-craved 
permission  for  me  to  be  dressed,  and  the  young  man 
from  the  hospital  who  had  assisted  Kate  in  her  self- 
appointed  task,  really  made  me  look  quite  presentable. 
He  even  shaved  me,  and  when  my  gentle  nurse  came 
into  the  chamber  to  find  me  sitting  by  the  window  and 
looking  much  like  other  men,  she  seemed  as  delighted 
as  a  child.  I  always  have  had  a  particular  contempt 
for  an  ungrateful  man,  and  I  certainly  felt  myself 
under  great  obligations  to  the  assistant  from  the  hospi- 
tal. Still  I  knew  my  strength  was  limited  and  I  could 
not  consent  to  waste  any  of  it  talking  with  him,  when 
I  had  so  much  to  say  to  my  nurse  and  to  hear  from  her. 
He  had  told  me  that  I  could  sit  up  tliis  first  time  only 
an  hour,  and  fifteen  minutes  of  it  had  slipped  away 
before  he  made  the  first  movement  toward  leaving  me 
with  Kate.  I  hope  that  I  did  not  bid  him  goodbye  too 
eagerly,  but  I  certainly  was  very  much  pleased  as  he 
closed  the  door  behind  him. 

Kate  was  pleased  also,  or  I  am  no  judge  of  female 
character.  She  had  been  busying  herself  in  little 
nothings  while  he  remained,  mere  pretenses  in  the  way 
of  occupation.  She  pulled  the  curtain  down  somewhat 
lower,  straightened  the  pictures  on  the  wall,  changed  a 
few  vases  on  the  mantel,  moved  the  chair  out  of  the 
corner  and  set  it  back  again.  When  the  young  man 
stood  in  the  doorway  saying  his  long-desired  farewell, 
she  half  turned  toward  him  as  if  interrupted  in  some- 
thing vitally  important,  "Are  you  going  so  soon  ?    Well 


An  Ex'periment  in  Marriage,  6T 

you  must  be  back  at  eleven  promptly  to  put  the  sick 
man  to  bed  again." 

But  no  sooner  had  he  closed  the  door  behind  him 
and  my  eyes  turned  eagerly  to  her,  than  she  dropped 
her  brush  broom  into  the  nearest  chair,  and  hurried  to 
me  as  if  she  thought  I  was  in  peril.  She  touched  ray 
hands  and  gently  pressed  them,  to  learn  if  I  were  fever- 
ish, and  then  cooled  my  forehead  with  something  very 
much  like  a  caress.  She  bent  over  and  looked  me  in 
the  face,  and  if  my  eyes  were  misty  with  an  unshed 
tear  or  two  I  do  not  know  as  I  need  be  ashamed  to  con- 
fess it.  I  was  still  weak  and  my  nerves  w^ei-e  unstrung, 
and  she  was  so  sweet  and  compassionate.  Her  eyes 
shone  wnth  tears  of  joy  and  pity.  I  could  not  help 
feeling  a  little  pity  for  myself. 

*' How  happy  I  am,"  she  said  simply.  Then  she 
brought  a  low  stool  and  seated  herself  at  my  feet.  "  I 
am  going  to  talk  with  you  for  the  whole  of  three-quar- 
ters of  an  hour.  This  will  be  my  last  forenoon  with 
you." 

I  gave  a  startled  movement  which  made  her  laugh. 
"  But  not  my  last  afternoon.  I  resume  work  to  mor- 
row forenoon.  I  have  taken  as  long  a  vacation  as  I 
can." 

"  So  women  work  in  Grape  Yalley  ! "  I  exclaimed, 
rather  scornfully. 

"  Here  we  draw  wages  too;  that  is  where  we  have 
another   advantage  over  the  women  of  civilization." 

"  I  should  think  it  would  be  better  for  the  men, 
either  as  husbands  or  as  fathers,  to  support  the  women," 
persisted  I. 

"  That  isn't  the  way  in  Grape  Yalley.  Every  man 
or  woman  does  a  share  of  the  necessary  work  and  draws 
a  corresponding  share  of  the  returns.  The  women  of 
Grape  Yalley  are  dependents  or  pensioners  on  no  man's 
bounty." 

•'But,"  I  urged,  "I  should  think  the  men  would 
prefer  to  provide  for  the  women  they  love.    A  father. 


68  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

for  instance,  must  certainly  take  pleasure  in   feeding 
and  clothing  his  grown-up  daughter." 

"  But  Avhy  should  he  support  her  if  she  is  able  to 
support  herself,  any  more  than  a  grown-up  son  ?  There 
is  nothing  to  admire  in  idleness.  Besides  he  would  be 
forced  to  carry  an  extra  burden  by  so  doing,  and  more 
working  hours  would  be  required  than  are  necessary 
now  that  each  woman  bears  her  own  burden.  A  day's 
work  is  but  four  hours  in  Grape  Yalley,  because  all 
except  the  children  and  the  sick  bear  a  hand." 

"But, "Ibe^^an. 

*'  Wait  a  minute,"  she  interrupted,  eagerly.  "  There 
is  another  reason  why  fathers  do  not  support  their 
grown-up  daughters  here.  If  a  daughter  were  a  charge 
upon  her  father,  when  the  father  died  the  daughter 
would  be  left  dependent  on  some  one's  else  bounty. 
If  she  married  and  her  husband  died  or  left  her,  she 
would  be  once  more  left  to  charity,  or  to  the  chance  of 
commending  herself  to  a  second's  husband's  favor. 
By  giving  her  work  to  do,  our  policy  secures  her  free- 
dom after  so  many  centuries  of  bondage." 

"  But,"  I  continued,  "  I  should  think  the  husbands 
of  Grape  Yalley  would  prefer  their  wives  should  be 
at  home." 

"  What  good  would  it  do  even  such  fond  husbands  " 
demanded  Kate,  *'  for  their  wives  to  be  at  home  when 
they  themselves  are  away  at  work  ?  As  long  as  the 
wife  is  at  home  when  the  husband  is  there,  he  ought 
to  be  satisfied." 

"  But  aside  from  that,"  I  urged,  "  you  must  re- 
member man's  pride.  He  likes  to  feel  that  it  is  he 
who  provides  the  woman  he  loves  with  the  necessities 
and  luxuries  of  existence.  It  is  usually  supposed,  too," 
I  added,  "  that  the  loving  wife  enjoys  her  blessings 
doubly  when  bestowed  by  her  husband's  hand." 

"A  grown  w^oman  should  not  have  such  silly  ideas," 
exclaimed  Kate  with  a  curl  of  her  red  lips,  "  and  a  sen- 
sible  man  should  be  above  any  such  pride  as  you  speak 


A71  Experiment  in  Marriage,  69 

of,  which  it  would  cost  so  much  to  indulge.  It  would 
cost  her  independence,  which  is  essential  if  there  is  to 
he  the  true  and  passionate  relation  between  them, 
rather  than  the  mutually  degrading  relation  of  owner 
and  slave." 

"Not  if  they  love  each  other,"  I  insisted. 

But  Kate  would  not  let  me  talk.  "  If  they  love 
each  other,  this  mercenary  relation  which  you  admire 
so  much,  corrupts,  taints,  and  tends  to  destroy  the 
emotion.  Love  is  not  bought  and  sold.  But  suppos- 
ing they  love  each  other  very  little,  or,  as  is  often  the 
case,  not  at  all,  what  then  becomes  of  the  pleasure  of 
the  proud  husband  in  providing  for  her,  and  of  her 
sweet  humility  in  accepting  his  begrudged  bounty  ? '' 

I  said  nothing,  and  Kate  seemed  very  glad  of  the 
opportunity  to  answer  her  own  question. 

"  Why,  their  union  then  becomes  shameful  as  well 
as  painful.  She  eats  her  bread  in  bitterness,  which 
he  throws  to  her  in  contempt.  He  is  under  a  sort  of 
bondage  to  her  in  the  continued  obligation  to  support 
one  who  cannot  provide  for  herself,  and  she  is  an  un- 
willing pensioner  for  her  board  and  clothes.  Common 
honor  and  decency  constrain  him ;  absolute  and  gross 
hunger  and  want  constrain  her." 

"  But  you  have  true  love  matches  here  ? "  I  sug- 
gested. 

"  Since  the  women  of  this  valley  are  independent, 
there  are  no  marriages  here  for  support,  no  marriages 
for  money.  Love,  pure  and  simple,  or  what  they  think 
to  be  love,  draws  men  and  women  together,  and  their 
relation  after  marriage  is  the  same  as  in  courtship, 
based  on  passion,  physical  and  spiritual,  and  giving 
that  passion  its  perfect  course." 

When  any  woman  talks  of  love  it  is  apt  to  make  a 
man's  pulses  beat  somewhat  faster.  But  when  she 
was  beautiful,  young  and  gentle,  and  when  she  talked 
with  such  fervor,  such  enthusiasm,  what  wonder  that 
my  heart  throbbed  wildly,  and  hot  words  of  passion 


70  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

rushed  to  my  trembling  lips  ?  It  must  have  been  that 
Kate  perceived  my  emotion,  and  desired,  for  some 
good  reason  of  her  own,  to  check  it.  She  rose  sud- 
denly from  her  stool,  and  taking  her  place  by  my  side, 
pointed  ont  of  the  window  and  down  the  valley. 

"  Yon  see  those  fields  of  a  peculiar  green  ?  " 

I  could  not  yet  trust  my  voice.  She  doubtless  knew 
why.  Women  are  all  clairvoyants  where  matters  of 
the  heart  are  concerned.  So  she  continued  without 
waiting  for  an  answer  :  "  Those  are  the  vineyards. 
That  district  is  on  a  lower  level  than  this  part  of  the 
valley,  and  is  much  hotter  and  dryer.  See  how  brown 
and  parched  the  land  looks,  except  where  occupied  by 
the  vines;  GrajDes  would  not  grow  to  advantage  in 
this  district;  It  is  too  cool  and  moist  here.  .But  we 
have  green  grass  instead,  something  the  southerly  end 
of  the  vdlej  does  not  have." 

"  You  surely  do  not  pick  the  grapes  yourself  ? "  I 
exclaimed  in  something  like  my  natural  voice,  although 
I  could  not  hide  the  admiration  in  my  eyes  as  I  turned 
them  toward  her  fair  cheeks. 

"  Oh,  no,  the  men  do  that.  I  sometimes  go  down 
to  see  them,  as  fortunately  I  had  been  doing  that  day 
wdien  I  first  saw  you.  My  work  is  packing  the  grapes 
in  boxes  for  the  market."  She  extended  her  closed 
hands  toward  me,  and  then  slowly  opened  them. 
"  Look,  you  can  see  the  stains  on  my  fingers.  I  have 
hidden  them  before." 

I  caught  her  hands  in  mine  to  bring  them  closer  to  my 
eyes  for  examination.  Yes,  they  were  stained  at  the  tips. 

"  Ah,  you  will  not  admire  them  any  more,"  she 
cried,  with  a  sweet  mingling  of  coquetry  and  reproach 
in  her  voice  and  on  her  face.  But  when  in  an  instant 
more  she  felt  my  burning  kisses,  and  heard  my  breath 
come  in  quick  sighs,  she  snatched  her  hands  from  me 
ahnost  furiously,  and  was  half  way  across  the  room  as 
the  door  opened  to  admit  the  young  man  from  the 
hospital. 


An  Exj)eriment  in  Marriage,  71 

''  The  hour  is  up,"  he  said,  smiling  pleasantly  at  us. 
Then  he  approached  me.  "  Ah,  our  patient  looks 
feverish  again.    I  am  afraid  he  has  talked  too  long." 

The  next  morning  a  little  before  eight  o'clock,  Kate 
stood  in  the  doorway  of  my  chamber  for  an  instant. 

''I  am  going  to  get  some  more  stains  on  these 
fingers,"  she  said,  kissing  the  tips  of  them  to  me  in 
wliat  I  quite  justly  considered  the  most  exasperating 
manner.  Tlie  i'our  hours  between  eight  and  twelve  that 
she  would  be  absent  1  passed  in  bed,  alternately  study- 
ing the  condition  of  my  heart,  and  taking  short  naps. 
The  naps  were  more  satisfactory  than  the  self -examina- 
tions. I  woke  refreshed  each  time,  and  resumed  the 
mental  analysis  until,  confused  and  tired,  I  fell  asleep 
again. 

So  far  as  I  am  able  to  condense  the  -results  of  my 
meditations,  I  will  give  them.  I  was  quite  unable  to 
decide  whether  or  not  Kate  was  the  most  beautiful 
woman  I  had  ever  seen,  the  brightest  or  the  sweetest. 
I  was  unable  to  recall  with  sufficient  clearness  my  past 
experiences  to  positively  decide  whether  I  had  ever 
before  been  as  much  thrilled  in  a  woman's  presence ; 
whether  I  had  ever  liked  as  well  to  look  in  any  other 
woman's  face ;  whether  I  had  ever  been  as  fond  of  the 
touch  of  another  woman's  hand.  I  was  unable  to  find 
data  to  prove  that  I  should  always  feel  toward  Kate  as 
I  felt  now,  or  that  she  was  and  always  would  be  to  me 
the  ideal  woman,  or  even  that  she  was  the  first  or 
the  only  woman  I  had  ever  met  who  could  inspire  in 
me  an  enduring  passion.  Before  noon,  however,  I  had 
admitted  to  mysek  that  long  before  I  could  get  away 
from  this  house  I  should  have  made  a  complete  sur- 
render of  myself  and  all  I  was  to  Kate ;  that  I  should 
have  made  as  absolute  a  devotee  of  myself  as  a  nine- 
teenth century  lover  can  be. 

I  tried  to  be  philosophical,  and  to  look  at  my  case 
from  an  indifferent  standpoint.  I  had  come  to  Grape 
Valley  to  study  its  institutions  and  morals.    By  falling 


Y2  A'/i  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

in  love  was  I  not  willfullj  blinding  mjself  to  a  proper 
study  of  the  situation  ?  At  first  I  was  disposed  to  ad- 
mit tliat  I  was  doing  just  that.  But  later  1  recollected 
that  nothing  usually  opens  a  man's  eyes  like  marriage. 
Perhaps,  even  if  I  had  not  been  led  to  it  by  force  of 
circumstances,  it  would  have  been  my  duty  as  a  studerit 
of  social  dynamics  to  have  sought  the  experience  of  a 
Grape  \^alley  marriage.  What  teacher  like  experience  ? 
Marriage  alone  could  make  me  an  adept.  But  even  if 
it  had  not  been  in  the  plain  line  of  my  duty,  it  clearly 
was  my  manifest  destiny.  What  other  possible  de-. 
nouement  could  there  be  to  my  drama  ?  A  sick  and 
weak  man  is  nursed  by  a  beautiful  and  charming  girl. 
His  fancy  is  fitful  and  feverish,  his  senses  impression- 
able as  newly-heated  wax.  It  was  for  me  to  thank  for- 
tune that  this  girl  was  remarkably  beautiful  and  charm- 
ing. My  cold  philosophy  would  not  let  me  deny  that 
I  should  probably  have  fallen  just  as  hopelessly  in  love 
under  the  same  fatal  conditions  with  a  woman  many 
degrees  less  worthy. 

Shortly  after  twelve  o'clock  when  the  young  man 
from  the  hospital  came,  he  was  accompanied  by  the 
doctor.  The  latter  felt  of  my  forehead  and  looked  in 
my  eyes,  took  my  temperature,  and  counted  my  pulse  in 
a  most  solemn  fashion.     Then  his  countenance  relaxed. 

"  Why  the  patient  is  a  good  deal  better  and  stronger 
than  he  was  yesterday,"  said  the  doctor. 

"  Of  course  I  am,"  I  remarked,  adding  jocularly  : 
''Who  said  I  wasn't?" 

The  young  man  from  the  hospital  looked  surprised. 
"  Then  you  think  it  would  not  hurt  him  to  be  dressed 
and  sit  up  for  an  hour  to-day  ?  " 

"  He  can  sit  up  all  the  afternoon  if  he  wants  to,"  an- 
swered the  doctor,  with  the  bluff  address  affected  by 
the  profession,  both  in  and  out  of  effete  civilization. 

"  But  yesterday  when  I  came  to  undress  him,"  in- 
sisted the  young  man,  "liis  face  was  very  much 
flushed  and  his  pulse  bounding." 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  73 

"Nonsense,  nonsense,  my  boy.  Why,  Mr.  Yinton, 
here,  can  take  a  walk  outside  by  day  after  to-mor- 
row." 

So  tlie  doctor  paid  me  his  last  visit,  and  the  assist- 
ant, in  a  nijst  disheartened  manner,  proceeded  to  dress 
me'  He  had  lost  all  the  geniality  and  sprightliness 
which  had  made  him  so  engaging.  I  was  really  sorry 
for  him.  And  I  knew  so  well  just  how  he  came  to 
make  that  mistake  about  my  condition.  When  he  en- 
tered the  room  the  previous  forenoon,  to  be  sure  my 
face  was  flushed  and  my  pulse  bounding.  In  the  in- 
terest of  science  I  suppose  I  should  have  given  him 
the  true  explanation  of  my  excitement.  He  may  in 
liis  future  career  lose  some  far  more  important  patient 
than  I,  owing  to  negkct  of  symptoms  of  high  fever, 
such  as  he  thought  he  saw  in  me.  Even  out  of  com- 
mon friendliness  I  ought  to  have  told  him  that  it  was 
love,  not  disease,  which  caused  the  acceleration  of 
pulse,  which  he  correctly  diagnosed.  I  ought  to  have 
admitted  that  it  really  was  a  fever  which  affected  me,  a 
fever  which  frequently  deranges  the  body  and  always 
unbalances  the  mind.  But  I  concluded  that  the  young 
man  would  not  keep  my  confidences  to  himself.  He 
would  feel  impelled  to  tell  the  doctor  in  charge  what  I 
had  told  him,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  to  justify  his 
i-eport  of  feverish  symptoms.  The  doctor  would  re- 
peat the  sentimental  tale  to  his  professional  brethren, 
and  each  of  them  to  his  best  patient,  until  Kate  and  I 
should  become  the  center  of  interest  for  the  whole  set- 
tlement. 

So  it  was  that,  after  the  young  man  had  rolled  my 
easy  chair  into  position  by  the  window,  and  had  helped 
mo  to  it,  although,  in  fact,  I  hardly  felt  the  need  of 
his  assistance,  I  permitted  him  to  go  with  only  a  ''  thank 
you."  Considering  the  ill  turn  1  had  done  him,  I  felt 
be  was  quite  excusable  for  not  putting  a  table  within 
my  reach,  and  for  misarranging  the  pillows  so  that  by 
no  possible  position  of  the  human  form  could  I  adapt 
10 


74:  A?i  iLxperiinent  in  Marriage. 

my  back  and  neck  to  them.  But  his  malice  turned  to 
mj  benefit.  In  a  minute  more  I  heard  Kate's  step  in 
the  hall,  and  her  gentle  knock  at  the  door. 

''Can  I  do  any  thing  for  you?"  she  asked,  and  I 
was  able  to  answer  : 

*'  Oh,  yes,  lots  of  things,"  proceeding  to  explain  what 
was  wrong,  and  she  to  put  it  aright,  with  many  a  word 
of  undeserved  abuse  for  the  aljsent  assistant,  and  of 
pity  for  me,  who,  she  was  convinced,  had  been  shame- 
fully treated. 

She  had  taken  her  lunch  at  the  work-room,  as  was 
the  custom,  and  so  had  nothing  more  important  to  do 
than  spend  a  happy  afternoon  with  me.  From  the 
very  instant  Kate  entered  the  room  and  gave  me  her 
first  look,  I  abandoned  myself  to  the  inevitable.  I  knew 
that,  unless  for  some  direct  interposition  of  fate,  I 
should,  before  we  se^Darated  again,  offer  myself  to  her. 
But  I  determined  that  whatever  small  amount  of  will 
power  I  possessed  should  be  exerted  to  postpone  the 
inevitable  for  two  hours  at  least.  1  was  loth  to  sacri- 
fice the  charming  piquancy  there  is  in  the  relations  of 
two  undeclared  lovers.  I  wanted  to  make  the  most  of 
the  delicious  mystery  which  envelops  the  woman  one 
loves  before  she  confesses  a  like  passion  and  makes 
haste  to  reveal  her  inmost  soul.  I  always  had  the  dis- 
position and  taste  of  an  epicure  in  matters  intellectual 
as  well  as  physical.  I  was  resolved  to  extract  and  enjoy 
the  last  drop  of  sweetness  there  was  in  the  first  and 
undetermined  period  of  love,  before  passing  into  the 
second,  that  of  sweet  assurance.  Charming  and  beatific 
as  the  first  act  might  be,  I  almost  dreaded  to  bid  good- 
bye forever  to  the  prelude. 

But  as  soon  as  Kate,  instead  of  taking  the  stool  at 
my  feet  as  she  had  done  yesterday,  drew  a  chair  up  to 
my  side,  I  knew  my  determination  was  all  for  naught. 
I  confessed  to  myself  that  if  Kate  was  not  in  my  arms 
within  five  minutes,  it  would  be  because  she  did  not 
return  my  passion. 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  V5 

"  Have  jou  missed  me  ? "  she  gently  asked,  bending 
forward  to  look  in  my  face. 

But  witiiout  answering  I  reached  out  my  hand  and 
took  liers.  It  gave  one  tug  as  if  seeking  escape,  and 
then  lay  still. 

"  Oh,  you  want  to  see  if  my  fingers  are  stained 
still  ?  "  aiid  she  tried  to  laugh,  but  the  color  left  her 
face,  her  eyes  had  fallen  to  her  lap,  and  I  shall  remem- 
ber as  long  as  I  live  the  bewitching  quiver  of  the  lashes 
on  her  cheek.  She  knew  as  well  as  I  that  the  supreme 
moment  was  at  hand. 

"Kate,  I  love  you." 

I  had  thought  it  certain  that  this  woman  loved  me. 
But  it  suddenly  came  over  me  now  that  I  might  have 
been  mistaken.  I  would  not  have  been  the  first  con- 
ceited fool  to  have  been  convinced  that  a  woman  was 
in  love  with  hira  simply  because  she  had  a  kind  heart. 

What,  it  suddenly  burst  upon  me,  was  there  in  me 
to  inspire  a  passion  ?  Since  my  illness  I  was  not  even 
good-looking.  I  had  been  unable  to  talk  very  much, 
so  it  could  not  be  I  had  been  interesting.  My  social 
accomplishments,  which  had  not  been  wholly  amiss  in 
Eastern  drawing-rooms,  had  no  field  or  occasion  here. 
My  wealth  and  position  were  not  only  unknown  to  the 
woman  to  whom  I  was  just  offering  myseK,  but  utterly 
out  of  account  in  this  colony. 

All  these  thoughts  passed  through  my  mind  in  the 
pause  which  followed  my  declaration,  and  I  was  sud- 
denly plunged  into  the  despair  Avhich  should  be  the 
condition  of  the  true  lover's  soul.  There  is  something 
unchivalrous  in  a  lover  w^ho  counts  it  only  necessary 
for  hhn  to  speak  to  be  accepted,  for  him  to  ask  in 
order  to  receive  unconditional  surrender  of  the  fortress 
which  he  should  be  willing  to  risk  his  life  to  win.  I 
forgot  I  was  weak  or  had  ever  been  ill.  I  sprang  to 
my  feet  and  stood  before  her. 

"  Kate,"  I  cried,  "  do  not  say  you  have  only  pitied 
me ;  that  you  only  cared  for  me  as  a  good  angel  might 


Y6  An  £kperi7/i€nt  in  Marriage. 

care  for  any  suffering  human  being.  I  want  your 
love." 

She,  too,  must  have  forgotten  that  I  had  been  ver^i 
ill,  for  she  seemed  to  see  nothing  surprising  in  the  fact 
that  I  was  standing.  She  rose  too,  and  suddenly 
lifting  her  downcast  lids,  let  her  great  bhie  eyes  sbine 
into  mine  with  all  the  splendor  of  awakening  passion. 
The  warm  blood  rushed  back  into  her  cheeks,  and 
tearing  her  hand  from  mine  she  threw  both  her  arms 
around  my  neck  and  laid  her  beautiful  head  upon  my 
slioulder. 

This  was  surely  answer  enough,  but  what  triumph- 
ant lover  but  would  have  wanted  more. 

"  Then,  you  love  me,  Kate  ?  "  And  I  put  my  arm 
about  her  waist.     ^'  Tell  me.     Say  so,  then.'- 

Without  lifting  her  head  from  my  shoulder  she 
turned  her  face  toward  mine  and  smiled  like  an  angel. 
A  woman's  passion  makes  her  almost  divine.  Her 
dewy  lips  parted : 

"  I  love  yon ''  she  began,  and  then  my  lips  met 

hers  in  a  kiss  which  is  the  true  confession  of  love. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Then  Kate  seemed  to  discover  that  her  patient  had 
been  on  his  feet,  and  altogether  behaving  himself  like 
a  well  man.  Nothing  wonld  satisfy  her  bnt  that  I 
take  my  easy  chair  again.  In  vain  I  assured  her  that 
my  happiness  had  completely  restored  me  to  health.  In 
vain  I  argued  that  a  tonic  was  all  that  I  had  required 
to  make  me  well,  explaining  that  while  the  doctor  had 
failed  to  find  the  proper  agent,  and  was  leaving  nie  to 
the  slow  recuperative  influences  of  nature,  she  had  of- 
fered me  the  elixir  of  life,  and  lo,  I  was  restored. 

But  at  last  I  had  to  yield  to  Kate's  inflexible  com- 
mands and  return  to  my  easy  chair,  while  she,  drawing 
her  chair  nearer  to  mine,  for  consolation  laid  her  head 
upon  my  shoulder. 

So  every  thing  was  amicably  arranged  at  last,  and, 
without  further  loss  of  time,  we  started  upon  those 
mutual  confidences  which  always  come  at  the  beginning 
of  love  affairs,  and  usually  cease  all  too  soon.  Kate 
told  me  that  it  was  while  she  looked  down  upon  my 
face  as  it  lay  in  her  lap,  death-stricken  as  it  seemed  to 
be,  she  had  first  fallen  in  love. 

As  the  reader  has  not  my  photograph  by  which  to 
confirm  or  correct  Kate's  fond  description,  I  will  not 
give  in  detail  her  language  concerning  what  nothing 
shall  ever  again  convince  me  are  not  Grecian  features 
of  most  classic  mould.  I  may  forget  the  criticisms  of 
my  enemies,  or  the  half  compliments  of  my  friends,  but 
although  I  am  too  much  afraid  of  being  ridiculous  to 
write  here  the  words  Kate  used,  I  shall  never  forget 
one  adjective  of  them  all.     AH  men  are  vain,  and  if 


78  An  Exjyeriment  in  Marriage. 

we  do  not  suspect  your  sincerity,  believe  me,  dear 
readers,  since  I  speak  from  my  own  experience,  when 
I  say  it,  you  can  please  one  of  us  more  by  praises  of 
our  physical  graces  and  facial  beauties,  half  or  wholly 
imaginary  though  they  may  be,  than  by  any  amount 
of  ascriptions  to  our  virtues  or  to  our  talents.  We  feel 
perhaps  that  others  may  not  see  the  virtues  or  admire 
the  talents,  but  a  handsome  face  or  a  fine  figure  can  be 
appreciated  by  everybody. 

But  Kate  told  me,  too,  that  I  was  so  patient  with  my 
pain  that  it  would  have  been  a  heart  of  stone  not  to 
have  softened  for  me.  "  Most  men,"  she  said,  "  are 
brutes  when  tliey  are  sick."  And  when  I  began  to  re- 
cover, and  called  her  by  name,  and  seemed  pleased  to 
have  her  near  me,  she  said  she  first  knew  what  pure 
happiness  was.  But  then  came  the  fear  lest  I  should 
not  love  her,  or  worse  still,  if  when  I  grew  befter  I 
asked  her  to  marry  me,  it  might  be  out  of  gratitude 
and  not  out  of  true  love. 

"  Are  you  sure  you  love  me  ? "  Her  voice  came  in  a 
more  subdued  tone  from  my  shoulder  where  her  head 
rested. 

"■  Tell  me  what  you  think  love  is." 

I  tried  to  make  her  lift  her  head,  so  I  could  watch 
her  face  as  she  answered.  But  women  seem  half 
ashamed  of  the  intensity  of  their  feehngs. 

"No,"  she  said,  "you  must  not  make  me  look  at 
you  now." 

Then  she  continued :  "  A  man  who  loves  should 
never  want  to  leave  the  woman  he  has  chosen,  should 
think  only  of  how  he  can  make  her  happy,  should, 
when  in  her  presence,  feel  a  tender  warmth  always 
about  his  breast.  When  she  comes  his  heart  should 
give  a  bound  of  delight.  When  she  leaves  him,  if 
only  for  a  moment,  it  should  be  as  if  the  light  were 
taken  from  the  room.  Her  smiles  should  be  reward 
enough  for  every  effort,  her  continued  favor  a  solace 
for  every  misfortune..     All  that  is   best,   noblest  and 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  70 

most  unselfish  in  him  should  be  stimulated  by  her  pres- 
ence, every  thing  base,  covetous  or  unjust,  should  find 
stifling  the  atmosphere  of  his  passion  for  her.  He 
shonUi  feel  that  life  without  her  would  be  a  blank,  and 
death  with  her  a  delight.  This  is  the  way  a  man 
should  love  a  woman.  Like  that,  I  think,  is  ray  love 
for  von." 

"'Why  do  you  say  *I  think'?"  I  demanded,  re- 
proachfully. 

'^  Because  we  cannot  be  sure,"  she  answered,  sadly. 
"  I  have  described  love  as  it  is  in  its  own  nature.  If  a 
man  and  woman  are  not  fitted  for  each  other  they  find 
it  out  in  time.  When  they  cease  to  love  as  I  have  de- 
scribed, then  they  cease  to  love  at  all." 

Then  it  was  for  me  to  tell  her  how  1  had  grown  to 
love  her,  how  beautiful  she  seemed  to  me,  how  sweet, 
how  divine. 

"  If  I  am  so,"  she  said  softly,  ''  it  is  you  that  make 
me  so.  Love  can  make  us  fulfill  all  our  best  and 
hio'hest  possibilities  " 

""  Where  did  you  get  such  ideas  of  love?" 

"Why,  it  is  our  religion  here.  But  you  have  not 
even  told  me  your  first  name,"  she  continued,  "or 
about  your  life  before  you  came  here." 

I  told  her  that  my  parents  had  died  when  I  was  yet  a 
boy,  leaving  me  an  ample,  though  not  unusual  property. 
I  went  over  my  school  and  college  experiences,  and  my 
first  ventures  and  small  successes  in  literature.  I  even 
revealed  to  her  my  one  unhappy  love  affair,  explaining 
how  the  woman,  although  professing  herself  in  love 
with  me,  and  knowing  fully  my  infatuation  with  her, 
preferred  a  man  she  despised,  but  who  had  thousands 
of  dollars  to  my  hundreds. 

"Are  you  sure  you  do  not  love  her  still?"  Kate 
raised  her  head  and  looked  me  in  the  face.  "  I  do  not 
mind  it  if  you  have  loved  others.  I  do  not  care  how 
many.  But  1  should  not  be  happy,  nor  able  to  make 
you  so,  if  you  still  loved  another  woman." 


80  A7i  Exjyei'hnent  in  Marriage. 

"  Love  Isabel  Blakesley  ?     No,  I  hate  her." 

Kate  let  her  head  drop  to  my  shoulder  again,  and 
put  her  hand  in  mine.  But  I  was  for  an  instant  so 
full  of  indignation  for  the  woman  who  preferred  wealtli 
to  love  that  Kate's  gentle  reminder  passed  unnoticed. 
<'I  had  rather,"  she  said,  when  I  carried  her  hand  at 
last  to  my  lips,  "  that  you  had  satislied  yonrself  by  ex. 
perience  that  she  could  not  make  you  happy.  Then 
yon  would  have  been  indifferent  to  this  Isabel." 

But  it  did  not  take  me  long  to  convince  Kate  or  my- 
self that  there  was  no  woman  to  me  in  the  world  but 
her.  It  would  be  a  poor  lover,  indeed,  who,  on  the 
very  afternoon  of  his  acceptance,  could  not  forget  the 
woman  who  had  more  of  a  passion  for  wealth  and 
power  than  for  the  man  she  professed  to  love. 

"  But  it  is  now  yonr  turn  to  tell  me  about  yourself," 
I  said,  when  complete  accord  seemed  restored.  ^'Just 
think  of  it,"  I  added  with  a  laugh,  as  Kate  had  not 
replied,  *'  I  only  know  your  first  name.  How  do  you 
come  to  live  in  this  house  alone?  Have  you  no 
father,  no  mother,  nor  sisters  %  Does  every  woman  of 
Grape  Yalley  have  a  house  of  her  own  \ " 

"  I  will  answer  your  questions,"  began  Kate,  with  a 
slight  change  of  voice,  "  but  I  can  talk  bettei'-if  I  sit 
erect.  There,  let  me  go  for  now.  By  and  by  you 
can  have  me  again  if  you  wish." 

So  Kate  seated  herself  by  my  side,  and  folded  her 
hands  in  her  lap.  I  thought  it  well  not  to  insist  on 
further  endearments  just  now.  AVomen  are  capricious 
creatures,  and  it  is  a  wise  lover  who  respects  the 
moods  and  whims  of  his  mistress. 

"In  Grape  Yalley,"  she  continued,  "the  land,  and 
the  houses  built  upon  it,  belong  to  the  State,  and  are 
allotted  to  women  who  set  up  homes.  Our  young 
people  remain  at  the  schools  until  twenty-two,  and 
their  homes  are  in  the  dormitories  attached.  Our  men 
and  women,  until  married,  live  in  the  larger  buildings, 
which  we  call  phalansteries^  where  all  have  the  pleasure 


An  Ex])eriment  in  Marriage.  81 

of  privacy  in  their  own  rooms,  when  desired,  but  meet 
each  other  and  the  liouseholders  as  well  at  the  common 
evening  meal,  and  at  the  social  gatherings  and  enter- 
tainments which  take  place  in  the  central  halls  every 
evening." 

"But  why,"  I  asked,  as  she  seemed  wandering 
from  my  qnestion,  "  do  yon  have  a  house  by  yourself  \ 
I  should  think  you  would  prefer  to  live  in  a  phalan- 
stery." 

Kate  gave  me  a  startled  look.  Then  she  answered 
hurriedly  :  "  I  took  for  granted  you  knew  I  had  been 
married." 

A  dull  pain  settled  about  my  heart.  Some  other 
man  had  once  been  loved  by  this  woman  wliom  I  had 
thought  all  my  own.  She  had  thrown  her  arms  about 
some  other  man's  neck  as  gracefully  as  about  mine. 
She  had  looked  into  some  other  passionate  eyes  as 
fondly  as  into  mine.  She  had  learned  that  clinging 
kiss  of  hers  from  some  previous  lover.  I  felt  a  chill 
creep  over  me  at  the  thought  that  at  every  stage  of  my 
courtship,  at  every  advance  in  our  intimacy,  she  had 
doubtless  compared  me  with  my  predecessor.  Perhaps 
I  did  not  embrace  her  as  gracefully,  but  held  her  hand 
more  tenderly.  It  was  too  hard  to  bear.  1  could  not 
look  at  her,  but  sat  staring  fiercely  at  the  opposite  wall 
where  hung  the  clock  whose  hands  pointed  to  t\yenty 
minutes  past  three.  I  could  feel  her  sad,  reproachful 
eyes  upon  me,  and  knew  she  understood  what  feelings  of 
impotent  wrath  possessed  me.  Then  I  heard  her  voice 
coming  as  from  a  distance,  faint  and  low,  but  pleading. 

"  You  are  sorry  that  I  married.  But  how  could  I 
know  you  were  coming  %  " 

''  How  long  have  you  been  a  widow  ?  "  I  asked,  in  a 
constrained  voice,  but  without  meeting  her  eyes. 

"A  widow?"  she  exclaimed.  "I  am  not  a  widow, 
my  husband  is  away  on  a  business  trip." 

I  could  feel  the  blood  forsake  my  face,  and  knew 
my  cheeks  must  be  as  white  as  death,  from  which  she 
11 


82  An  Ex])eriment  in  Marriage. 

had  saved  me.  I  sprang  to  raj  feet  and  turned  on  the 
frightened  woman  as  stern  a  countenance  as  ever 
avenging  angel  could  assume. 

"  And  you  are  the  wife  of  another  man  ?  Still  you 
have  won  my  heart  and  accepted  my  love.  What 
have  I  done  to  deserve  such  punishment?" 

In  my  desperation  I  turned  my  back  to  her  and 
walked  toward  the  door.  I  forgot  I  was  sick,  and 
longed  as  only  a  man  overwhelmingly  in  love  can  ever 
long  to  escape  from  the  presence  of  the  woman  I 
loved.  Then  she  sprang  to  her  feet,  remembering  that 
I  was  ill,  and  followed  me,  her  womanliness  overcom- 
ing her  sbame.  But  I  felt  only  a  desire  to  scathe  her 
with  new  and  terrible  rebukes  before  I  should  go,  to 
tear  her  fond  heart  with  agonizing  reproaches  and  bit- 
ter taunts.  She  had  wounded  me.  I  would  give  her 
scar  for  scar.  So  before  1  reached  the  door  1  turned 
to  face  her  again.  My  lips  opened  for  words  but  they 
would  not  come.  A  strange  dizziness  affected  my 
brain.  I  felt  that  I  was  dying,  and  was  glad  if  it 
would  but  break  the  heart  of  this  most  cruel  of 
women.  I  felt  my  knees  shaking  and  then  I  knew  no 
more. 

When  I  began  to  come  to  myself,  I  was  lying  on 
the  bed,  and  I  opened  my  eyes  to  see  the  pale,  tear- 
stained  face  of  the  woman  I  loved  bending  over  me  in 
that  most  winning  of  all  her  attitudes.  My  arms  obeyed 
my  heart,  and  throwing  them  about  her  neck  I  drew 
her  to  my  face.  Her  cheeks  were  cold,  even  her  lips, 
as  they  pressed  mine,  were  like  ice,  while  my  heart  was 
beating  high  with  renewed  life  and  love. 

''  Then  you  forgive  me?  "  she  murmured. 

"  Forgive  you,"  I  repeated  in  astonishment.  "  For 
what?"  Then  the  memory  of  her  terrible  confession 
came  back  to  me.  Joy  was  not  for  me.  I  fairly  moaned 
in  my  misery,  and  my  arms  unwound  from  about  the 
woman's  neck,  and  fell  inert  to  my  side. 

Then  came  a  knock  at  the  door,  and  in  response  to 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  83 

Kate's  "  come  in "  the  young  man  from  the  hospital 
entered.  He  would  have  been  somewhat  else  than 
human  if  he  had  not  experienced  a  slight  sense  of  satis- 
faction at  seeing  me  lie  pale  and  haggard  on  the  bed. 
And,  when  Kate  explained  that  I  had  fainted  while 
trying  to  cross  the  room,  a  look  very  near  akin  to  ecstacy 
passed  over  his  face.  The  absurdity  of  the  second  mis- 
take in  diagnosis  the  young  man  was  making  appealed 
to  my  sense  of  the  ludicrous,  stricken  as  I  was.  Jiut  he 
merely  said  with  a  satisfied  air : 

"  I  told  the  doctor  that  Mr.  Yinton  was  not  as  well 
as  he  thought." 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  next  morning  the  young  man  came  from  the 
hospital  provided  widi  a  new  sort  of  medicine  from  my 
physician.  But  when  he  found  me  dressed  and  in  my 
easy  chair,  he  looked  at  me  as  if  he  could  not  beheve 
his  eyes. 

''  Surely  you  did  not  dress  yourself  ?  "  he  ejaculated. 

"  But  I  did  just  that,"  I  insisted,  "  and  what  is  more, 
I  sliall  try  my  legs  a  little  in  the  outer  air  to-day." 

"Then  this  is  of  no  use,"  he  exclaimed  in  disgust, 
as  he  threw  the  bottle  of  medicine  far  out  of  the 
window. 

I  was  not  at  all  in  a  merry  mood,  but  his  complete 
discomfiture  was  almost  enough  to  bring  a  smile  to 
the  stone  face  of  a  statue. 

"Don't  be  angry  with  me  for  getting  better,"  I 
urged. 

"  But  why  can't  you  live  up  to  your  symptoms  ?  That 
is  what  I  want  to  know." 

"I  always  was  an  eccentric  man,"  I  said.  "Let 
that  fact  explain  the  other.  But  sit  down  here,  my 
dear  boy.     I  want  to  ask  you  a  few  questions." 

His  face  brightened,  true  philanthropist  that  he 
really  was,  at  the  opportunity  of  making  himself  use- 
ful. He  drew  up  his  chair  and  assumed  an  attentive 
expression. 

'•  In  the  first  place,"  I  began,  "  whose  house  is  this  I 
am  in  ? " 

"Why,  Mrs.  Vegas'  of  course." 

"  You  mean  Mr.  Yogas',  I  presume  1 " 

"  Oh  no,  I   don't.     It   is  the   wives  to   whom   the 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  85 

houses  are  allotted  in  Grape  Yalley.  The  husband  is 
her  guest.  As  for  Mr.  Vegas,  he  is  one  of  our  buying 
agents,  and  is  at  San  Francisco  now." 

''  Who  supports  me  here  ?  "  I  continued. 

^'  The  State,  which  takes  care  of  all  the  sick  and 
disabled  people  in  Grape  Yalley.  You  will  have  a 
chance  to  go  to  work  later,  never  fear." 

"Now,  my  dear  boy? — By  the  way  what  is  your 
name  ?  George  ?  Well,  George,  I  want  to  get  away 
from  this  house  as  soon  as  possible.  I  have  been  a 
burden  on  Mrs.  Yegas  too  long  ah-eady." 

"  I  don't  think  she  regards  it  in  that  way,"  said 
George.     But  I  insisted. 

"  Of  course  she  couldn't  say  so,  but,  if  I  am  able,  I 
want  to  go  from  here  to-morrow.  Now  where  am  I 
to  go  ? " 

"  Why,  there  is  the  phalanstery,  No.  1,  that  is  where 
your  friend  is." 

"  Just  the  place,"  I  cried  eagerly.  "  Now  will  you 
make  the  proper  arrangements  for  me  to  go  to  that 
phalanstery  ? " 

*'  Certainly  I  will.     It  is  a  very  simple  matter." 

"  And  then  come  back  for  me  to-morrow  morning. 
I  think  I  shall  be  able  to  go  by  then  ?  But  George, 
be  careful  of  one  thing.  Don't  let  a  word  of  my  plan 
get  to  Kate  —  I  mean  to  Mrs.  Yegas'  ears.  We  can 
go  in  the  forenoon,  when  she  is  at  work,  you  know." 

"  Just  as  you  say.  But  wouldn't  that  be  a  little 
rude  to  her?     However,  that  is  your  aifair,  not  mine." 

When  the  young  man  had  gone,  I  put  on  my  hat 
and  ventured  to  open  the  door,  and  slowly  make  my 
way  across  the  hall.  In  a  moment  more  I  had  passed 
down  the  steps  and  was  on  the  street.  I  was  much 
stronger  than  yesterday.  I  almost  wished  I  had  made 
my  plans  to  go  to  the  phalanstery  this  very  morning. 
Tiie  prospect  of  Kate's  return,  and  of  the  tortures  her 
presence  would  cause  me,  made  me  dread  the  after- 
noon.    I  glanced  up  and  down  the  street  on  which  I 


86  An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage, 

stood,  and  up  the  intersecting  street,  lined  witli  little 
houses  like  the  one  I  had  suddenly  grown  to  liate.  I 
saw  no  large  building  such  as  the  phalanstery  must  be. 

Indeed,  if  I  had  seen  it,  and  had  been  strong  enough 
to  walk  there  unassisted,  I  had  no  credentials  such  as 
I  supposed  would  be  necessary  to  show,  entitling  me 
to  be  received.  I  leaned  against  a  lamp-post  and  tried 
to  reconcile  myself  to  the  unavoidable  return  to  Kate's 
home. 

I  laid  out  a  scheme  of  demeanor.  When  she  first 
returned  from  her  work,  and  knocked  at  the  door,  I 
would  call  to  her  that  I  was  just  taking  a  nap.  This 
would,  perhaps,  preserve  my  solitude  for  an  hour  or 
more.  When  she  should  at  last  sit  down  with  me, 
and  wait  for  my  first  word  of  reproach,  I  would  sur- 
prise her  by  uttering  none.  I  would  proceed  precisely 
as  if  no  word  of  love  liad  ever  been  spoken  between 
us.  I  would  talk  of  impersonal  matters,  and  meet  all 
approaches  toward  sentiment  with  silence,  or  with 
affected  misunderstanding. 

Did  I  still  love  her  ?  My  whole  nature  was  aflame 
with  a  j^assion  which  even  the  thought  that  she  was 
another's  wife  could  not  abate.  But  my  passion  was 
not  of  the  baser  sort  which  would  be  satisfied  at  the 
cost  of  honor  or  decency.  No  stolen  delights  could 
indeed  satisfy  such  passion  as  mine.  I  wanted  her 
for  mine  and  mine  alone,  mine  to  make  happy  and 
proud,  mine  to  cherish  early  and  late.  The  more  I 
loved  her  the  less  was  I  disposed  to  dishonor  her,  the 
more  determined  was  I  to  endure  the  agony  of  living 
sacrifice  before  I  should  tempt  her  by  word  or  look,  or 
even  by  unguarded  tone  of  voice,  to  lend  to  me  what 
she  had  given  to  another.  I  would  go  away  to-morrow 
because  I  was  afraid  that  the  tense  fibres  of  my  resolu- 
tions might  relax  after  too  long  a  strain.  But  it  would 
prove  me  a  weak  and  unworthy  creature  indeed,  if  I 
could  not  stand  the  trial  of  one  afternoon. 

Suddenly  my  heart  gave  a  bound  as  a  familiar  wo- 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  87 

man's  figure  appeared  at  some  distance  up  the  street 
which  intersected  the  one  on  which  I  stood.  It  was 
Kate,  and  she  was  running  toward  me  as  if  in  great 
excitement.  Could  she  have  met  with  some  acci- 
dent ?  It  seemed  an  eternity  before  she  reached  my 
side.  Her  face  was  flushed,  her  eyes  were  shining  as 
if  in  liigh  fever,  her  bosom  I'osc  and  fell  tumultuously 
with  her  distressed  breathing.     She  caught  my  arm. 

"Where — were — yon  going?''  she  cried,  catching 
her  scant  breath.  "Were  you  going  to  leave  me?" 
Then  she  drew  me  toward  the  house,  "  Oh,  come 
back,"  she  said.     "  Only  come  back." 

In  vain  I  assured  her  that  I  had  merely  come  out  for 
a  walk.  She  did  not  release  my  arm  until  she  had 
helped  me  into  what  had  been  my  sick  room.  Then 
she  threw  herself  into  the  nearest  chair,  and  leaning 
her  head  upon  the  table,  began  sobbing  as  if  her  heart 
would  break.  Her  thick  coils  of  hair  became  loosened, 
and  fell  like  sheets  of  burnished  gold  to  the  very  floor 
beneath.  Then  in  sudden  shame  —  a  woman  looks  on 
unbound  liair  as  one  sort  of  nudity  —  she  straightened 
herself,  and  with  trembling  hands  tried  to  fasten  up 
her  hair.  But  in  an  overwhelming  spasm  of  abandon, 
as  if  she  cast  all  thoughts  but  of  her  own  misery  to  the 
winds,  she  released  her  hair  again  and  dropping  her 
head  upon  her  hands  gave  way  to  weeping. 

Now,  as  the  reader  will  I'em ember,  I  had  made  no 
plan  or  laid  out  no  procedure  for  a  case  like  this.  The 
interview  for  which  I  had  prepared  myself  was  to  have 
in  it  no  sudden  outburst  of  pitiful  weeping.  Indeed  I 
had  been  taken  off  my  guard  by  her  very  appearance 
in  so  excited  a  condition,  when  I  had  believed  she  was 
still  at  her  work,  and  could  not  return  for  hours.  Now 
followed  this  mute  agony  and  ravishing  picture  of 
womanly  beauty  in  distress.  Was  it  a  wonder  that  I 
forgot  my  scheme  of  behavior,  and  sought  to  meet  the 
emergency  as  man  has  met  similar  ones  since  men  and 
women  first  gave  each  other  raptui'e  and  misery  ?     I 


88  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

laid  my  hand  upon  her  head.  I  stroked  her  wonderful 
hair,  taking  its  shining  lengths  between  my  fingers 
and  wondering  at  its  softness,  all  the  while  murmuring 
some  soft  wor^s  of  pity,  and  I  am  afraid,  in  spite  of 
all  my  high  resolutions,  of  endearment.  I  could  onlj" 
remember  that  she  was  a  woman  who  loved  me,  as  she 
sobbed  there,  trembling  like  a  child.  It  would  be  time 
enough  by  and  by  to  remind  myself  that  she  was 
another  man's  wife. 

Little  by  little  her  grief  seemed  assuaged.  Her  sobs 
grew  less  frequent,  and  she  tried  twice  to  speak  before 
she  could  catch  her  breath. 

"  I  grew  so  worried  about  you,  I  could  not  work," 
she  said  at  last,  without  lifting  her  head.  "  I  felt  some- 
thing might  be  happening.  And  oh,"  she  suddenly 
lifted  her  face  wet  with  tears  from  her  hands,  "  Oh, 
when  I  saw  you  on  the  street,  I  thought  I  had  just 

come  in  time you  know  I  couldn't  live  if  you  left 

me,"  she  cried  in  hurried  excitement.  "  Promise  you 
will  not  leave  me." 

Then  it  was  that  I  did  something  else  quite  out  of 
m}^  plan,  and  quite  out  of  keeping  with  my  sober 
sense  of  right.  I  bent  down  and  kissed  her,  just  as  if 
the  fact  that  we  loved  each  other  gave  me  any  such 
privilege.  But  after  this  I  got  my  bearings  again.  I 
left  her  side,  and  crossing  to  my  own  easy  chair,  sat 
down. 

"  Kate,"  I  said  with  an  air  of  calmness,  which  I 
found  easier  to  assume  at  this  distance,  "  sentiment  is 
very  beautiful,  but  we  must  look  tliis  matter  fairly  in 
the*  face.  Come  and  sit  by  me,  and  let  us  talk  for  a 
few  minutes." 

Without  a  word  she  rose  and  went  to  the  mirror, 
where  she  carefully  bound  up  her  hair.  She  dried  her 
face  and  eyes,  and  afterward  came,  and  placing  her 
chair  where  she  could  see  my  face,  seated  herself. 

'*  We  have  fallen  in  love  with  each  other,"  I  began. 

"  Then  you  love  me  still  \  "  she  said,  and  a  radiant 


An  Exjyeriment  in  Marriage,  89 

smile  overspread  lier  face,  at  wliich  I  became  so  trans- 
ported and  confused  that  the  clear  delimitations  of  right 
and  wrong,  of  honor  and  dishonor  which  had  been 
so  apparent  a  moment  before,  seemed  vagne  and 
fugitive. 

''  Yes,  I  love  you  still,"  I  struggled  on,  *'  and  I  be- 
heve  I  always  shall  love  you.  But  that  is  so  much  the 
worse  for  me,  I  could  not  be  satisfied  with  a  part  of  a 
woman's  life,  even  if  I  were  base  enough  to  be  willing 
to  cheat  her  husband." 

"I  didn't  suppose  you  could,"  she  assented. 

So  ray  duty  became  easier  for  me.  The  woman 
agreed  Avith  me.  I  did  not,  indeed,  see  how  so  noble  a 
creature  could  be  otherwise  than  pure. 

"  We  ought  to  see  each  other  no  more,"  I  w^ent  on. 
"These  mutual  confessions  and  embraces,  these  kisses 
of  passion,  make  the  ultimate  parting  more  difficult. 
We  should  part  at  once." 

"  Don't  say  it,"  she  exclaimed,  putting  her  hands  to 
her  ears,  "  it  is  impossible." 

"But,"  I  insisted,  in  astonishment,  "you  yourself  said 
only  a  moment  since,  that  you  thought  as  I  did." 

"  Oh,  no,"  she  answered.  "  I  said  I  didn't  suppose 
you  could  be  satisfied  with  part  of  the  woman  you. 
loved,  or  be  willing  to  deceive  her  husband." 

"Well,"  I  cried,  "isn't  that  the  same  thing? " 

She  looked  puzzled  for  an  instant,  and  then  a  slight 
smile  passed  over  her  face,  and  she  uttered  words  which 
were  like  a  new  and  startling  revelation  to  me. 

"  You  forget  we  are  in  Grape  Yalley.  Here  we 
marry  for  love,  and  when  we  find  we  love  another  than 
our  husband  we  can  close  a  marriage  relation  —  which 
has  then  become  unnatural,  asquickl}^  as  we  created  it." 

To  be  sure.  This  was  what  Gillette  had  meant  by 
free  divorce.  This  other  man's  wife  could  cancel  her 
marriage  at  will.  Apparently,  according  to  the  laws 
and  customs  of  Grape  Yalley  there  was  nothing  to 
shut  me  away  from  the  happiness  which  I  was  so  con- 
12 


90  An  Exjjyeriment  in  Marriage. 

iident  this  woman  could  give  me.  I  had  come  hither 
to  study  the  workings  of  this  institution.  Before  I 
]iad  so  much  as  walked  through  the  settlement,  or  had 
the  first  conversation  with  the  leaders  of  this  new  so- 
ciety, I  was  offered  that  lesson  which  comes  from  ex- 
perience. 

A  moment  ago  I  would  have  believed  that  I  should 
welcome  as  a  special  dispensation  of  fate  the  oppor- 
tunity to  marry  this  woman.  But  now  the  information 
that  I  could  marry  her  in  accordance  with  the  law^s  and 
customs  of  Grape  Yalley,  instead  of  ravishing  me,  af- 
fected me  with  a  shock.  Instead  of  bringing  her  nearer 
to  me,  it  seemed  as  if  we  were  more  divided  than  ever. 
The  prejudices  of  six  generations  of  Puritan  ancestors 
were  deeply  imbedded  in  my  nature. 

But  the  situation  was  becoming  very  trying.  I  had 
told  this  beautiful  creature  that  I  loved  her.  She  liad  in- 
formed me  that  under  the  laws  of  the  State  I  had  en- 
tered, she  could  cease  to  become  anotlier  man's  wife 
when  she  chose,  and  become  mine.  She  is  expecting 
me  to  give  some  sign  of  relief  and  joy,  but  I  sit  there 
in  gloomy  thought.  It  is  at  this  fortunate  juncture 
that  there  comes  a  ring  at  the  outer  door.  -  With  a 
pretty  move  of  impatience  Kate  leaves  the  room,  and 
in  a  moment  more  ushers  in  no  other  than  my  friend 
Ward. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

He  bore  not  a  very  close  resemblance  to  the  elegant 
Mr.  Ward  as  he  was  known,  and  as  he  is  doubtless  re- 
membered, at  the  most  fashionable  New  York  clubs. 
Not  having  shaved  since  we  lef  i:  St.  Louis,  his  cheeks, 
chin  and  upper  lip  were  covered  with  a  stiff,  scrubby 
growth  of  beard.  He  had  lost  the  clean  cut,  Grecian 
style  which  he  used  to  affect.  He  had  doubtless  ex- 
pected to  see  me  as  much  changed  for  the  worse  as 
himself.  So  the  first  remark  as  he  limped  across  the 
room  to  my  side  was  : 

"  I  can't  see  that  your  appearance  has  been  injured 
at  all  by  your  sickness,  my  dear  boy." 

I  rose  and  we  clasped  hands  with  an  heartiness  which 
was  almost  an  embrace.  I  believe,  indeed,  if  there  had 
been  no  one  else  in  the  room,  we  should  have  exchanged 
a  genuine  hug.  1  had  not  appreciated  before  how  much 
my  old  friend  really  was  to  me. 

"  All  you  need  is  to  use  your  razor,"  I  said.  "  Haven't 
our  trunks  com^eyet?  Gillette  promised,  you  know, 
that  they  should  be  here  soon  after  we  were."  Then 
I  noticed  my  friend's  inquiring  glance  at  Kate,  who 
was  busying  herself  with  her  charming  air  of  ingenu- 
ousness, about  the  room. 

"Kate,"  I  called,  and  Kate  came  to  where  we  stood. 
"  Kate,  I  want  to  present  you  to  my  oldest  and  best 
friend,  Mr.  Ward.  Ward,  this  is  the  woman  who  has 
saved  my  life." 

Then  I  remembered  that  I  had  been  using  her  first 
name,  and  my  voice  changed  in  spite  of  my  effort  to 


92  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

control  it,  and  a  warm  flush  of  consciousness  rose  to 
her  cheeks  too  as  I  added  :  "  This  is  Mrs.  Vegas." 

Ward,  trained  man  of  the  world  and  accomplished 
o-entleman  as  he  was,  could  not  keep  the  surprised  look 
from  his  face.  But  he  bowed  as  gracefully  as  if  such 
a  thing  as  a  sprained  ankle  were  unknown  in  his  ex- 
perience, and  responded  in  his  most  courtly  tones : 

"  Mrs.  Yegas  is  entitled  to  my  sincerest  thanks." 

"I  will  leave  you  for  a  little  while,"  she  said;  "such 
devoted  friends  must  have  much  to  say  to  each  other. 
Only  do  not  make  him  too  tired,  Mr.  Ward." 

But  just  before  she  opened  the  door  to  go  out  she 
glanced  anxiously,  I  thought  appealingly,  at  me.  I  think 
she  felt,  with  what  we  sometimes  call  woman's  intui- 
tion, that  she  was  leaving  me  exposed,  at  a  most  critical 
moment,  to  an  influence  very  hostile  to  her  and  to  her 
heart's  desire.  If  so,  she  left  in  the  remembrance  of 
that  appealing  look  a  powerful  shield  against  whatever 
my  friend  might  say.  I  was  conscious,  too,  that  Ward 
saw  the  smile  I  sent  to  her  at  parting,  and  that  his  face 
grew  more  serious  still.  Then  I  set  my  teeth  and 
morally  braced  myself  to  resist  an  attack. 

What  stnpid  mistakes  our  friends  make.  They  put 
us  upon  the  defensive,  when  we  are  about  to  surren- 
der our  position.  They  stir  us  up,  by  opposition,  to  in- 
vent excuses  for  doing  something  which  in  fact  we 
w^ere  quite  undecided  about.  So  AVard,  who  I  had  in- 
stantly concluded  was  anxious  lest  I  might  marry  Kate, 
took  the  very  course  most  adapted  to  determine  me  to 
marry  her. 

"1  have  any  amonnt  of  things  I  want  to  talk  over 
with  you,"  he  began  somewhat  constrainedly,  as  is 
the  manner  of  those  who  feel  impelled  to  discuss  our 
love  affairs  with  us.  "  But  I  feel  as  if  there  is  one 
particular  matter  which  it  is  my  duty  to  speak  about, 
first  of  all  " 

"  I  concluded  so." 

"Ah,"  he  continued  with  more  freedom,  "you  ex- 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  93 

pected  it.  So  it  is  '  conscience  makes  cowards  of  us 
all.'     I  need  not  mince  matters  then '{ " 

^*  Not  at  all,"  I  replied  with  a  somewhat  cheerless 
smile.  "Avail  yourself  of  the  ancient  privilege  of 
friendship,  and  proceed  without  delay  to  make  your- 
self disagreeable." 

We  had  both  seated  ourselves,  he  taking  the  chair 
recently  occupied  by  the  woman  whose  fate  we  were 
about  to  settle. 

"  I  think  I  noticed  the  familiar  signs  of  a  quite  good 
understanding  between  you  and  the 1  must  ac- 
knowledge   the     exceedingly    handsome     young 

woman  who  just  went  out." 

''With  your  usual  acumen,"  I  assented,  calmly. 

"  I  think  also  yon  spoke  of  her  as  Mrs.  Yegas,"  he 
continued.  "  May  I  inquire  is  there  a  Mr.  Yegas,  or 
shall  I  use  the  past  tense  ?  " 

"  From  the  present  outlook,"  I  answered,  "  the  past 
tense  will  apply  to  Mr.  Yegas  very  soon." 

"  Great  heavens,"  ejaculated  Ward,  forsaking  the 
interrogative  for  the  imperative  mood  under  stress  of 
excitement:  "You  don't  mean  to  say  my  boy  that  you 
have  already  decided  to  marry  another  man's  wife?" 

In  fact  as  the  reader  knows,  I  had  not  so  decided, 
but  my  friend  had  driven  me  past  the  possibility  of  so 
ignominious  a  confession,  and  I  replied  coolly  : 

"  You  have  it.'' 

He  leaped  to  his  feet  with  the  idea  of  walking  to 
and  fro  across  the  room,  a  very  exasperating  habit  of 
his.  But  he  had,  in  his  excitement,  forgotten  the 
sprained  ankle,  and  after  hobbling  a  few  feet  away,  he 
came  back  and  seated  himself  once  more. 

"  The  woman  is  not  yet  divorced,  I  conclude  'i  " 

"  A  just  conclusion,"  I  assented.  "  Kate  is  now 
legally  married  to  Mr.  Yegas.  But  I  believe  it  do.s 
not  take  long  in  Grape  Yalley to " 

"To  make  her  free  to  marry  you,"  interrupted 
Ward   impatiently.     "  You   are   right.     I  have   been 


94:  A71  Experiment  hi  Marriage. 

studying  the  laws  and  institutions  of  this  settlement 
wliile  conlined  bj  mj  sprains  and  bruises  to  mj  bed, 
and  can  give  you  all  the  particulars.  It  is  only  neces- 
sary for  her  to  go  to  the  record  office,  make  a  declara- 
tion of  her  wish  to  be  divorced,  serve  a  notice  on  her 
husband ;  he  comes  to  the  house  no  more,  but  returns  to 
the  phalanstery,  and  she  is  free  to  marry  again." 

"  Then  there  need  certainly  be  no  uncongenial  mar- 
riages in  Grape  Yalley,"  I  remarked  unflinchingly. 

"  But,  Yinton,  my  dear  boy,"  and  "Ward  exchanged 
his  sarcastic  for  his  persuasive  tone,  "just  stop  and 
think  what  this  is  that  you  are  doing.  Do  you  really 
want  to  marry  a  woman  who  has  been  as  fond  of 
another  man  as  she  can  be  of  you  ?  Love  and  mar- 
riage ouglit  to  be  things  of  eternity." 

"  And  when  true  love  finds  its  fruition  in  true  mar- 
riage it  mnst  be  for  eternity,"  I  said,  a  flood  of  new 
ideas  touching  the  peculiar  institution  of  G-rape  Yalley 
rushing  in  upon  me.  ''  But  that  a  woman  is  tied  for- 
ever to  a  man  whom  she  does  not  like,  or,  for  that 
matter  loves,  but  not  to  the  full  capacity  of  her  nature, 
does  not  make  true  man*iage.  That  is  simply  bondage, 
humiliating,  brutalizing,  stupefying  bondage." 

"  But  perhaps  her  husband  loves  her,"  urged  Ward. 

"  Suppose  he  does,"  I  retorted.  "  Does  that  entitle 
him  to  make  her  an  unwilling  victim  ?  Is  she  not 
entitled  to  her  experience  in  love  as  well  as  he?  But 
for  my  part  I  do  not  believe  in  the  reality  of  a  love 
which  inspires  no  return  in  its  object.  Love  is  a  har- 
mony of  the  male  and  female  nature.  One  alone  can- 
not make  it." 

"  But  how  do  you  know  yon  and  she  are  ideal 
lovers?  "  objected  Ward.  "  Her  present  husband  and 
she  made  a  mistake,  you  believe.  Why  may  it  not  be 
that  you  and  she  may  make  alike  error  ?  The  romantic 
circumstances  under  which  she  first  saw  you,  the  pity 
and  interest  any  handsome  invalid  has  for  a  woman, 
may  have  captivated  simply  her  imagination.     As  for 


An  Mcperime7it  in  Marriage,  95 

yon,  the  proximity  of  a  fond  and  beantifiil  woman 
when  your  senses  were  in  a  weak  and  tremulous  con- 
dition, gratitude  and  complacency  in  the  enjoyment  of 
the  evident  admiration  you  excite,  may  well  liave  made 
even  a  less  fanciful  man  than  you  believe  himself  pos- 
sessed by  a  love  which  is  enduring.  How  do  you 
know  tliat  you  may  not,  both  of  you,  awake  at  no  dis- 
tant date  to  lind  your  marriage  too  a  failure,  or  at  least 
a  failure  to  one  of  you  ?  " 

^'  Let  me  see,"  I  remarked  with  an  air  of  testing  my 
memory.  "That  would  resemble  the  case  of  a  widow  who 
makes  a  second  poor  marriage.  There  would  be  this 
difference,  however;  in  civilization  a  mis-mated  hus- 
band and  wife  only  have  opportunity  to  marry  again 
under  happier  auspices  through  the  death  or  disgrace 
of  one  or  the  other ;  in  Grape  Yalle}'  a  mistake  is  no 
sooner  discovered  than  it  can  be  rectified.  As  you 
shrewdly  suggest,  a  mistake  is  possible  even  in  the  in- 
stance now  under  discussion.  It  is  always  possible 
that  infatuated  men  and  women  may  not  discover,  until 
after  the  intimacy  which  marriage  only  can  bring,  that 
they  are  inharmonious.  But,  while  in  civilization  such 
mistakes  result  in  life-long  misery,  in  mutual  unkind- 
ness,  in  hunger  for  the  sympathy  and  inspiration  only^ 
a  true  marriage  gives,  in  (irape  Yalley  they  can  be 
corrected  as  soon  as  discovered.  Here  the  man  and 
woman  who  cannot  answer  to  each  other's  needs  are 
permitted  to  find  their  way  to  other  hearts,  ready  and 
waiting  for  them." 

"  Then  the  idea  of  marrying  and  remarrying  ad  lib- 
itum  does  not  shock  you  !  "  demanded  Ward.  "After 
a  woman  has  had  several  husbands  how  must  a  sane 
and  unprejudiced  man  regard  her  1 " 

This  question  was,  to  be  sure,  a  searching  one,  and  I 
did  not  answer  it  as  readily  as  most  of  my  friend's 
challenges.  It  appealed  to  my  prejudices,  and  not 
wholly  in  vain.  I  recollected  the  not  always  unde- 
served slurs  cast  upon  the  women  in  civilization  who 


06  A7i  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

had  been  throiigli  tlie  divorce  court,  the  common  re- 
flections, too,  on  widows  and  widowers  who  ventured 
again  and  still  again  into  new  bonds  of  matrimony. 
But  not  content  with  his  advantage,  Ward  proceeded 
to  follow  it  up. 

^'  Think  of  the  disgrace  to  a  woman  of  being  repeat- 
edly divorced.'' 

JBut  my  friend  had  himself  suggested  a  point  of  view 
taking  which  the  aspect  of  matters  seemed  tomechanged. 
"  The  conditions  in  civilization  and  here  are  entirely 
different,"  I  answered.  "In  J^ew  York  a  divorced 
woman  is  counted  disgraced  because  the  causes  for 
which  divorces  are  issued  are  disgraceful.  In  Grape 
Yalley  you  tell  me  the  desire  of  either  party  to  be  free 
is  sufficient.  In  civilization,  the  cause  of  a  divorce 
must  be  bad  conduct  of  at  least  one  party,  implying 
most  commonly  some  fault  in  the  other.  Here  incom- 
patibility is  the  all-sufficient  occasion  for  divorces,  and 
since  it  is  a  matter  of  common  sense  to  see  that  the 
man  and  woman  who  are  not  suited  to  each  other  are 
no  less  likely  to  be  entirely  suited  to  some  other  na- 
tures, so  both  man  and  woman  are  freed  here  from  all 
possible  stigma  or  reproach.  It  is  the  very  frequency 
of  divorce  here  which  must  make  the  fact  as  touching 
this  or  that  woman  insignificant  as  a  measure  of  worth, 
amiability  or  virtue.  As  to  your  comparison  of  widows 
and  widowers,  whose  too  often  repeated  marital  ex- 
periences serve  to  point  so  many  ghastly  jokes  and  se- 
pulchral witticisms-^ — -  " 

''Well,  as  for  them,  what?"  interjected  Ward. 

"  Why  there  is  no  analogy,  my  dear  Ward,"  I  con- 
tinued; "a  husband  or  wife  in  Grape  Yalley  does  not 
have  to  wait  until  the  other's  death  for  freedom  when 
desired.  It  is  because  rapid  remarriages  by  widows 
and  widowers  indicate  that  they  have  been  hoping  for 
the  death  of  their  partners  that  we  look  upon  them 
with  such  disfavor.  It  must  be  considered  one  of  the 
advantages  of  society  in  Grape  Yalley  that,  under  no 


A71  Experiment  in  Marriage,  97 

circumstances,  could  a  luisband  or  ^vife  here  be  sus- 
pected of  wisliiDg  the  other  under  the  ground." 

Ward  arose.  ''  J^ot  going?  "  I  exckimed.  ''  Why 
there  are  a  tlioiisand  things  I  want  to  ask  yon  about  — 
when  is  Gillette  coming  back  ?    Plow  long  before " 

"Not  to-day,"  he  said  shortly.  "I  am  out  of  all 
patience  with  you,  and  am  going  back  to  the  phalan- 
stery. Where  did  Mrs.  Vegas  put  my  hat  ?  Oh,  here 
it  is."  And  taking  his  hat  from  the  table  and  pulling 
it  low  on  his  forehead,  as  I  had  known  him  often  to  do 
when  out  of  temper,  he  walked  slowly  toward  the  door. 
Jnst  before  reaching  it,  however,  he  turned  and  said: 

"  I  presume  nothing  will  keep  you  from  doing  this 
very  foolish  tiling.  \  on  forget  all  your  previous  be- 
liefs and  faitlis  ;  you  forget  that  bj^  taking  this  step 
you  are  binding  yourself  to  this  system  of  society,  and 
to  the  sacrifice  of  a  civilization  for  which  you  are  par- 
ticularly fitted.  You  forget  every  thing  but  the  over- 
mastering passion  which  you  would  be  the  first  to  de- 
spise in  another." 

"Excuse  me,"  I  began. 

"  No,"  he  interrupted  ;  "  I  am  not  going  to  stay  to 
hear  any  more  foolishness.  I  just  want  to  urge  j^ou, 
in  the  name  of  the  good  sense  you  once  possessed,  do 
not  offer  yourself  to  her  to-day.  Think  over  all  I  have 
said  in  cool  blood  through  the  watches  of  another 
night.  I  can't  think  that  you  will  be  as  foolish  to- 
morrow.    I  will  see  you,  then.     Good-bye." 

And  he  opened  the  door  and  shut  himself  out  so 
quickly  that  I  had  no  time  to  answer  even  his  good- 
bye. 

Did  I  intend  to  follow  his  discreet  advice  and  post- 
pone further  love-making  until  to-morrow  ?  Why, 
when  he  had  come  I  was  very  far  from  being  ready  to 
offer  myself  in  marriage  to  this  woman,  wlio  was  an- 
other man's  wife.  But  after  an  hour's  discussion  of 
the  subject,  after  hearing  all  his  objections,  which 
were,  indeed,  my  own,  and  forcing  myself  to  answer 
13 


98  A7i  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

them,  I  felt  tliat  mj  mind  was  made  up.  I  was  only 
glad  my  friend  Ward  had  not  insisted  on  my  making 
him  a  promise  to  postpone  a  proposal  of  marriage  until 
to-morrow.  I  should  have  been  verj^  sorry  to  be  dis- 
courteous and  refuse  so  small  a  favor  to  so  old  a  friend, 
and  very  probably  would  have  given  him  the  promise. 
I  always  dislike  lying,  too,  and  despise  a  liar,  such  as 
I  know  I  should  have  proved  myself,  if  I  had  promised 
what  he  desired.  Before  his  footsteps  had  ceased  to 
be  audible,  as  he  limped  angrily  up  the  street  —  what 
is  more  vehemently  expressive  than  the  limp  of  a  man 
out  of  temper —  I  was  already  listening  for  the  other 
step  I  knew  so  well,  and  which  never  failed  to  make 
my  heart  beat  faster.  Before  I  saw  her  I  knew  I  was 
going  to  say,  and  to-day,  just  what  "Ward  had  asked 
me  not  to  say.  The  longed-for  knock  came,  but  it  was 
more  timid  than  ever  before,  instinct  with  a  dread  of 
that  loving  heart  for  what  my  visitor  might  have  urged 
against  her  cause. 

I  crossed  the  room  and  opened  the  door  myself.  As 
Kate  turned  up  to  me  her  doubting,  questioning  face, 
as  if  she  were  almost  certain  mj^  friend  was  not  hers, 
and  had  made  my  heart  cold  to  her,  yet  still  ventured 
a  sweet  little  hope  that  I  had  resisted  him,  she  was, 
indeed,  quite  adorable. 

I  led  her  into  the  room,  with  my  arm  lightly  about 
her,  and  waited  to  hear  her  speak.  Man  is  a  cruel 
being.  He  delights  in  the  tender  tortures  of  the 
woman  he  loves. 

"  Your  friend  is  gone,"  she  said  faintly,  and  then, 
in  a  moment,  as  if  yielding   to    irresistible   impulse  : 

''  Did  he  urge  you  not  to not  to "     But  her 

lips  quivered  and  she  did  not  complete  her  sentence. 

"  Yes,  Kate,"  I  answered  calmly,  for  all  the  loud 
beating  of  my  heart.  "  He  told  me  that  what  I  wanted 
to  do  would  ibe  the  most  foohsh  act  of  my  life." 

^'And  you  ?"  JShe  raised  her  eyes  to  mine,  as  if  she 
could  not  wait  for  the  dreaded  answer  from  my  lips. 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  99 

How  sweet  is  the  spectacle  of  the  agonies  of  love,  when 
one  knows  he  can  tarn   them  to  raptures  with  a  word. 

"In  spite  of  all,  I  have  decided  to  ask  you  to  be  inj 
wife."     Then  my  voice  trembled  too. 

She  threw  her  arms  about  my  neck  in  that  sweet 
fashion  I  wonder  no  other  woman  ever  learned,  and 
drew  my  face  to  hers,  pale  no  more,  but  flushed  with 
the  glad  crimson  of  satisfied  love. 

"  You  know  my  answer,"  she  murmured. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

The  next  day  Kate  Yegas  filed  her  record  of  divorce, 
and  I  removed  to  the  phalanstery. 

The  evening  that  I  went  down  to  the  main  hall  for 
the  first  time  I  was  met  at  the  door  by  Kate.  She 
drew  me  into  a  retired  corner  and  whispered : 

"  Mr.  Yegas  has  returned.  I  have  notified  him  of 
my  divorce." 

The  thought  of  the  man  who  had  lately  stood  to  my 
sweetheart  in  the  relation  of  husband  was  a  pain  to 
me. 

■  "How  did  he  take  it  ? ''  I  asked,  in  a  rather  perfunc- 
tory manner. 

"  I  don't  think  he  was  displeased.  I  almost  suspect 
he  has  met  some  one  in  San  Francisco  whom  he  thinks 
he  can  love  better  than  he  has  loved  me." 

"  I  hope  I  shall  never  see  him,"  I  exclaimed  ve- 
hemently, "  I  cannot  bear  the  thought  that  a  living 
man  besides  me  ever  gathered  you  to  his  heart." 

Kate  gave  me  a  reproachful  look.  Her  lips  parted 
for  an  eloquent  protest,  but  she  closed  them  again,  and 
turned  away  from  me.  Her  womanhood  had  suffered 
insult,  and  from  the  man  whom  she  had  expected  would 
be  the  first  to  cherish  it. 

"  There  comes  Mr.  Gillette,"  she  said,  as  a  figure 
separated  itself  from  the  groups  in  the  center  of  the 
hall,  and  moved  in  our  direction.  "  He  will  want  to 
talk  with  you,  and  I  will  go." 

Like  a  coward,  I  let  her  go  without  a  word  to  heal 
the  wound  I  had  given  her.  A  convalescent  is,  per- 
haps, entitled  to  some  excuse  for  the  faults  which  grow 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  101 

'out  of  low  vitalit}^  and  enfeebled  tone.  I  crave  all  the 
allowance  due  me. 

"  Kaised  from  the  dead  ! "  exclaimed  Gillette,  as  he 
took  my  hand  in  his  hearty  grasp.  "]S"owyon  can  se- 
riously begin  to  study  the  institutions  of  Grape  Yalley. 
By  tlie  way,"  he  continued,  looking  around,  "  who 
was  the  woman  whom  my  approach  seemed  to  drive 
away." 

"'it  was  Mrs.  Yegas.  She  nursed  me  to  renewed 
life  and  health,  and  I  am  going  to  marry  her  in  a  fort- 


night." 


''  Bless  me,'  ejaculated  Gillette.  "  Let  me  con- 
gratulate you.  You  are  going  to  study  our  institutions 
from  the  inside,  I  see." 

Be  lauglied,  but,  noticing  that  my  face  did  not  re- 
lax, he  suddenly  grew  serious  in  turn.  "Excuse  me. 
I  am,  perhaps,  too  frivolous.  By  the  way,  Yinton,  this 
is  no  place  for  us  to  talk  con ti den ti ally,  and  I  know  we 
must  have  a  great  deal  to  say  to  each  other.  Sujipose 
you  take  me  to  your  room.  You  look  too  pale  to  be 
in  such  a  crowd  to-night,   anyhow." 

Within  a  few  minutes  more  he  was  seated  in  my 
room.  Having  accepted  a  cigar  from  my  guest,  I  was 
enjoying  my  first  smoke  for  several  weeks.  As  the 
genial  influence  of  the  tobacco  began  to  diffuse  itself 
over  me,  my  heart  began  to  expand,  so  that  when 
Gillette  said,  "Tell  me  all  about  it,"  I  rehearsed  the 
short  story  of  my  courtship  and  acceptance.  Perhaps 
my  manner  lacked  the  enthusiasm  and  my  tone  the 
fervor  to  be  expected  of  one  of  my  temperament  who 
describes  what  should  be  the  happiest  experience  of  his 
life.  Gillette,  however,  had  far  too  much  tact  to  -inform 
me  that  I  betrayed  an  unloverlike  fechng.  If  he  had 
been  a  more  intimate  friend,  he  might  have  committed 
the  indiscretion  of  cross-examinino^  me.  As  it  was  he 
sought  refuge  in  abstractions,  and  betook  himself  to 
generalities. 

^'  It  is  one  of  the  most  striking  features  of  our  sys- 


102  A7i  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

tem,"  he  said,  "  that  it  puts  to  death  so  many  of  the 
artificial  sentimentalities,  and  false  conceits  which 
have  flourished  through  centuries  of  courtship  and  mar- 
riage, under  tlie  old  regime.  That  a  woman  has  ever 
been  engaged  to  a  predecessor  is  always  a  most  painful 
revelation  to  your  lover  of  civilization.  It  takes  the 
flne  edge  from  his  sentiment.  He  would  have  his  sweet- 
heart come  to  him  without  ever  having  known  that 
men  were  handsome  and  fascinating.  He  craves  the 
privilege  of  teaching  her  heart  to  beat  full  and  strong, 
her  breath  to  come  in  sighs,  she  knows  not  whj^  All 
that  is  a  remnant  of  the  ages  during  which  women 
were  the  slaves  of  their  lords  and  masters,  men,  and 
unworthy  a  time  when  women  proudly  claim  to  be  our 
equals.  Men  in  Grape  Yalley  ask  no  more  of  the 
women  they  love  than  the  women  in  civilization  ask  of 
the  men.  As  the  women  of  the  old  order  of  society 
usually  prefer  men  who  have  had  their  affairs  of  the 
heart,  and  received  the  expansion  and  edacation  such 
experiences  give,  so  the  men  of  this  settlement  for  the 
most  part  prefer  women  who  understand  enough  of 
themselves  to  know  what  qualities  in  a  man  are  to  their 
taste,  and  enough  of  men  to  escape  the  error  of  being  too 
exacting,  on  the  one  side,  or  too  careless,  on  the  other. 
The  rest  of  the  world  appreciates  what  experience  does 
to  develop  and  to  proportion  a  man,  to  make  him  agree- 
able, considerate,  sympathetic,  to  make  him  wholly 
himself.  We  in  Grape  Yalley  appreciate  that  ex- 
perience does  the  same  for  a  woman  as  for  a  man.  \i 
she  has  grown  to  be  adapted  to  our  taste  we  have  only 
thanks  for  the  lovers  or  husbands  who  have  made  her 
all  thai  she  is.  We  care  not  whom  she  loved  when  her 
nature  was  only  partly  formed,  and  has  outgrown.  We 
care  not  who  it  was  to  whom  she  was  attracted  for  cer- 
tain qualities  which  she  afterward  found  insufficient 
to  hold  her  love.  We  care  not  whom  she  thought  she 
loved,  so  long  as  she  loves  him  no  more,  and,  we  be- 
lieve, offers  us  the  cream  of  her  life's  experience,  so 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  103 

long  as  we  believe  she  finds  in  ns  that  spiritual  and 
physical  completion  that  her  fully-developed  nature  re- 
quires." 

Thus  Gillette  seemed  to  take  for  granted  that  1 
agreed  with  all  he  said,  and  it  was  only  long  afterward 
that  1  suspected  that  he  was  really  reading  me  a  lecture 
of  which  he  saw  1  stood  greatly  in  need.  What  he 
said,  indeed,  came  like  balm  to  my  heart,  torn  and 
bruised  as  it^^as  bj  the  reawakening  prejudices  im- 
bibed through  the  commonplaces  to  which  I  had  listened 
since  boyhood,  and  which  in  fact  fih  the  pages  of  all 
the  sentimental  literature  of  the  world.  There  are 
times  when  the  nature  is  as  hungry  for  counsel,  as 
eager  for  correction  as  the  sick  man  for  his  medicine. 
But  to  be  accepted,  that  counsel  or  correction  must 
come  without  exciting  our  combativeness  or  our  dis- 
trust. Human  nature  is  always  most  willing  to  be  led, 
but  it  always  dislikes  to  be  reminded  that  the  process 
is  threatened  or  going  on.  Finally,  however,  the  dis- 
cussion of  this  subject,  even  in  generalities,  was  more 
than  I  felt  as  if  I  could  longer  endure,  and  after  a  few 
silent  puffs  at  my  cigar,  I  changed  the  current  of  the 
talk. 

"  You  have  told  me  that  this  settlement  of  a  thou- 
sand men,  besides  the  women  and  children,  is  but  seven 
years  old.  Surely  you  did  not  all  emigrate  here  at 
once?" 

"  Ko,"  answered  Gillette,  calmly  accepting  the  dis- 
missal of  the  other  theme,  "  there  were  but  two  hundred 
of  us,  and  all  men,  who  first  set  up  here  new  industrial 
and  social  institutions.  We  were  from  different  cities, 
but  all  belonged  to  societies  and  clubs  organized  to  dis- 
cuss and  promulgate  advanced  or  radical  ideas  of  some 
sort.  The  scheme  of  a  colony  originated  in  a  New 
York  club,  and  the  full  number  of  two  hundred  for  the 
original  colony  was  made  up  by  sending  one  of  our 
number  to  other  societies  of  like  scope,  and  proselyting. 
Only  those  with  plenty  of  money  could  be  taken  at  first, 


101  A /I  Ej!pe  rime  lit  in  2Larrta(je. 

for  tliere  must  be  no  liindrances  to  success  founded  on 
a  lack  of  money." 

"How  did  you  decide  upon  the  place?"  asked  I,  in- 
tensely interested  in  the  remarkable  story. 

"  Oh,  a  committee  was  sent  out,  first  of  all,  to  find  a 
location  where  we  would  be  likely  to  have  no  interfer- 
ence while  we  should  carry  out  our  plans.  The  com- 
mittee was  unrestricted  in  its  choice  by  nation,  continent 
or  hemisphere.  The  general  feeling  seemed  to  be,  how- 
ever, that  we  had  belter  seek  out  some  small  island  in 
Australasia  or  Polynesia.  It  was  by  accident  that  the 
committee,  while  lost  in  the  desert  lying  south  of  us, 
came  upon  this  valley.  There  were  no  signs  that  it 
liad  ever  seen  the  face  of  human  being  before.  It  had 
every  advantage  and  convenience  as  to  market  and 
of  climate,  indeed,  the  conveniences  of  every  climate. 
It  was  large  enough  at  least  to  congregate  our  colony, 
an:]  enable  ns  to  pass  through  our  provisional  and  ex- 
perimental period.  From  this  center  we  could  gather 
new  converts  with  the  greatest  ease ;  then  if,  or  rather 
when,  we  were  discovered,  and  the  wiseacres  sliould 
proceed  to  adjudge  us  mischievous,  and  interfere  with 
our  social  institutions,  it  would  be  time  enough  to  sell 
our  possessions  and  emigrate  with  our  acquired  strength 
and  numbers,  to  some  country  where  we  might  make 
and  keep  our  own  laws." 

"  There  were  but  two  hundred  men  of  you,  3'ou  say  ; 
where  did  your  women  afterward  come  from?  " 

*'  It  is  simple  enough.  There  is  every  thing  in  our 
scheme  of  equality  of  the  sexes  and  of  the  removal  of 
old  restrictions  which  operate  so  much  more  to  the  in- 
jury of  women  than  of  men,  to  commend  it  to  the 
imagination  and  judgment  of  intelligent  women.  But 
you  ask  for  details.  Many  of  the  two  hundred  had 
wives  of  intelligence  as  enthusiastic  for  the  colony  as 
their  husbands,  others  had  sweethearts.  Some  had 
female  relatives  dependent  upon  them  and  most  eager 
for  this  opportunity  to  emancipate  themselves.     But 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  105 

far  the  greater  portion  of  the  first  female  colonists 
were  bright  and  beautiful  women  who  were  known  as 
having  advanced  ideas,  and  who  threw  in  their  lot  with 
ns  full  of  a  faith  and  devotion  which  fairly  shamed 
certain  fearful  ones  of  the  men.  When  the  committee 
reported,  the  first  delegation  of  two  hundred  went  out^ 
to  put  up  such  buildings  as  we  should  need,  plant  the' 
first  crops  and  prepare  the  site  of  what  was  afterward 
to  be  the  happy  home  of  the  colony,  which  when  it 
finally  arrived  and  set  up  the  new  State,  numbered 
four  hundred  and  fifty  in  all,  including  a  few 
children." 

"  And  what  is  your  total  number  now  ? " 
"Something  over  three  thousand,"  answered  Gil- 
lette. Then  he  continued  with  a  smile  for  the  excitement 
which  I  could  not  but  display  at  his  narration  :  "I  suppose 
that  you  want  me  to  tell  you  how  we  have  more  than 
sextupled  our  numbers  in  seven  years.  Well,  every 
year  we  have  added  nearly  as  many  to  our  settlement 
as  constituted  our  first  colony.  Propagandism  we  con- 
sider one  of  our  first  duties  ;  for  a  few  hundred  of  us 
to  rest  happy  in  the  enjoyment  of  institutions,  which, 
if  adopted,  ^vould  cure  all  the  diseases  of  the  old 
social  order,  would  seem  unpai'donable  selfishness  to  us. 
We  seek,  therefore,  for  new  converts,  and  seek  for 
them  on  an  organized  system,  which,  if  our  success 
continues,  will  soon  overcrowd  the  valley.  Then  we 
plan  to  equip  a  new  band  of  pioneers,  who  shall  seek 
out  some  other  unknowai  spot,  and  make  another  city 
as  happy  as  this.  It  may  be  by  that  time  there  will 
have  been  changes  in  the  outside  world,  however, 
which  will  open  to  us  far  greater  possibilities  of 
proselyting,  and  a  field  for  illustration  of  our  principles 
on  a  more  open  and  progressive  scale  than  we  now  can 
calculate  on.  Our  agents,  i>i  whom  there  are  none 
more  persuasive  than  Mr.  Vega-,  whose  wife  you  have 
won,  move  in  the  most  cultivjited  society  of  our  large 
cities.  When  they  meet  a  progressive  spirit,  a  hint 
14 


106  A7i  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

is  first  dropped,  and  if  properly  received,  then  a  partial 
description  of  our  ideal  State  is  given.  Sometimes 
men  and  women  are  prepared  by  their  own  ideas  to  be 
converted,  but  more  often  they  are  the  scholars  of  bit- 
ter experience.  You  have  no  idea  how  radical  the 
cultivated  mind  of  to-day  has  become.  It  fears  noth- 
ing, dares  every  thing.  I^othing  is  too  high  for  it  to 
doubt,  or  too  low  for  it  to  study.  There  are  innumer- 
able men  and  Wianen  of  culture  in  the  United  States 
alone,  who  would  gladly  join  us  to-morrow  if  we  could 
reach  them.  And  as  for  the  millions  of  the  poor  and 
suffering  to  whom  any  change  would  be  welcome,  such 
a  state  of  society  as  ours  would  seem  like  paradise 
itself  to  them.  Universal  as  is  the  dis^^ust  of  men  for 
nineteenth  century  civilization,  society  and  morals, 
almost  as  great  is  their  faith  in  the  possibility  of  some- 
thing better." 

My  cigar  burned  my  moustache  and  I  threw  it  away. 
Gillette  had  suffered  his  to  go  out  while  he  talked,  and 
now  meditatively  chewed  it.  I  was  filled  with  a  thril- 
ling desire  to  become  a  positive  part  of  this  marvelous 
State,  but  I  was  in  a  dense  condition  of  ignorance  as  to 
its  industi-ial  and  economical  organization. 

"I  must  not  be  looked  upon  as  a  guest  here,"  I  said 
after  a  short  pause.  "  I  shall  be  able  to  go  to  work  in 
another  week.    Just  tell  me  how  I  can  pull  an  oar." 

"  Our  system  is  very  simple.  Of  course  you  know^ 
what  socialism  is  so  far  as  employment  and  livelihood 
go.  If  not,  read  up  on  the  subject.  We  practice  it  in 
Grape  Yalley,  as  it  is  only  under  proper  and  natural 
economical  conditions  that  even  the  most  shocking 
failures  of  civilization  can  be  corrected.  You  can 
choose  the  line  in  which  you  would  be  active,  as  long 
as  you  choose  something  you  are  capable  of  doing 
reasonably  well.  You  need  to  w^ork  but  four  hours  a 
day.  You  will  receive  a  card  entitling  you  to  receive 
your  share  of  all  the  good  things  brought  to  Grape 
Yalley   or  produced   here.     Everybody   shares    alike 


Aoi  Experiment  in  Marriage.  107 

here/'  Then  Gillette  glanced  at  his  watch  and  ex- 
claimed :  "  Ah,  it  is  high  time  a  convalescent  like  you 
were  in  bed.  I  have  talked  to  you  too  long.  But  one 
thing  more,"  he  said  as  he  rose:  ^'  Every  time  I  look 
at  this  watch,  I  think  of  that  awful  experience  of  ours 
in  the  canon.  Now  as  to  that  gold  mine.  I  have  not 
forgotten  it,  though  you  may  have  dune  so,  amid  your 
more  delightful  meditations.  As  soon  as  you  are 
entirely  well,  and  Mr.  Ward's  ankle  is  stiong  again,  we 
must  make  up  a  party  and  explore.  It  will  be  a  great 
boon  to  our  colony,  and  make  you  new  comers  very 
popular,  as  bestov>'ing  it.     Good-night." 

The  next  week  I  felt  able  to  begin  my  activities, 
and  being  urged  on  account  of  my  literary  experience 
to  take  a  position  on  the  weekly  publication  which 
entertained  and  sought  to  instruct  the  valley,  1  acceded. 
My  first  work  was  to  review  a  novel  which  had  made 
the  hit  of  the  season  in  the  outside  world  by  exposing 
its  vices,  and  the  editor  was  pleased  to  compliment  me 
on  my  effort. 

In  another  week  Kate  Yegas  became  Kate  Yinton, 
and  I  went  to  live  with  her  at  her  pretty  home  where 
I  had  already  experienced  so  much  happiness  and  such 
keen  distress. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

I  have  no  space  in  this  record  to  describe  in  detail  the 
economical  s)^stem  of  Grape  Valley,  except  so  far  as  nec- 
essary to  give  a  correct  impression  of  the  peculiar  social 
institutions.  It  was  simply  an  example  of  practical 
socialism.  The  State  regulated  and  directed  labor,  and 
divided  among  the  laborers  all  the  profits  thereof.  Each 
adult  man  and  woman  worked  four  hours  of  six  days 
in  the  week  at  the  tasks  assigned,  and  each  man  and 
woman  received  an  equal  share  of  the  profits  of  that 
labor.  Thus  no  one  had  more  than  he  needed  while  all 
had  enough,  with  leisure  and  cultivation  to  enjoy  it. 
It  was  a  state  of  society  where  selfishness  tended  to  die 
out,  and  the  principles  of  religion,  hard  to  follow  else- 
where, became  the  natural  impulse.  The  tendency  was 
to  develop  the  higher  faculties  and  enlarge  the  spiritual 
capacities.  The  viler  passions  and  grosser  impulses, 
from  lack  of  field  or  occasion,  fell  into  disuse. 

But  it  is  with  regard  to  the  effect  of  this  new 
economical  system  on  the  emancipation  of  women,  and 
in  bringing  into  being  a  fuller  and  higher  sexual  rela- 
tion, that  I  want  to  write  more  particularly  here.  The 
religious  revival  in  this  society  is  of  very  great  im- 
portance, but  I  must  leave  even  that  for  the  present. 
If  I  can  give  the  outside  world  a  true  sense  of  the 
meaning  and  full  scope  of  the  altered  relations  of  the 
sexes  as  exhibited  in  this  new  colony,  I  shall,  perhaps, 
have  done  all  that  my  duty  now  lays  upon  me. 

As  soon  as  my  friend  Ward  had  recovered  from  his 
lameness  sufficiently  to  be  assigned  to  some  activity,  he 
selected  a  position  on  the  newspaper,  more  I  think  to 


A71  Experiment  in  Marriage.  109 

be  near  me  than  from  any  inclination  for  what  he  rather 
contemptuously  styled  "everlasting  scribbling."  His 
leisure  time  he  devoted  most  assiduously  to  studying 
the  social  and  economic  conditions  of  tlie  settlement. 
He  was-  as  fond  as  ever  of  discussion,  and  with  tlie 
single  exception  of  the  peculiar  marriage  laws  in  Grape 
Yalley,  a  subject  which  was  tabooed  between  us  for  a 
long  time,  we  used  to  analyze,  philosophize,  correct  and 
revise  every  thing  said  or  done  in  this  most  interesting 
State. 

He  did  not  care  to  talk  about  the  peculiar  relations 
of  the  sexes  here  because  he  saw  me  irrevocably  com- 
mitted to  them,  and  to  attack  and  score  them,  as  I 
knew  he  wanted  to  do,  would  be  intolerable  to  his 
only  friend.  For  the  first  few  weeks  after  my  mar- 
riage I  was  naturally  in  no  mood  to  hear  profane  criti- 
cisms. I  was  as  happy  a  husband  as  the  certainty  of 
eternal  possession  of  the  woman  I  called  my  wife  could 
have  made  me.  I  was,  to  be  sure,  thankful  that  free 
divorce  had  been  a  possibility  in  Grape  Yalley,  because 
it  was  owing  to  this  institution  that  so  happy  a  union 
as  mine  with  Kate  became  a  fact.  If  it  had  been 
in  New  York  that  I  had  met  her,  although  her  hus- 
band might  be  the  object  of  profoundest  aversion 
to  her,  and  I  the  sole  object  of  her  tender  thoughts 
when  awake,  and  of  her  dreams  when  asleep,  we 
could  not  have  become  what  we  longed  to  be  to 
each  other.  We  might  have  caused  open  scandal  and 
made  ourselves  notorious,  regardless  of  the  customs  of 
decent  people.  We  might  have  met  each  other  by 
stealth,  and  sacrificed  our  honor  and  self-respect  for 
the  sake  of  stolen  hours  which  would  have  had  more 
of  agony  than  of  rapture.  But  the  free  divorce  law  of 
Grape  Yalley  gave  us  to  each  other  fully  and  un- 
grudgingly, £0  I  could  not  take  offense  at  the  institu- 
tion. 

To  be  sure  I  did  not  forget  that  Kate  was  free,  if  I 
showed  myself  surly  or  unloving,  to  put  a  limit  to  our 


110  A71  Experhnent  in  Marriage, 

intimacy  to-morrow.  IS'or  did  I  forget  that  if  I  saw  a 
woman  whose  beauty  thrilled  or  whose  intellect  at- 
tracted me  more,  I  could  leave  my  new-made  bride 
forever.  But  Kate  and  I  would  prefer  each  other  al- 
ways I  was  sure.  No  law  was  required  to  keep  us  al- 
ways close  to  each  other's  hearts.  We  would  continue 
to  love  each  other  forever,  because  we  were  each  what 
best  supplied  the  wants  of  the  other. 

I  had  lost  the  sense  of  outrage  that  scourged  me 
■when  I  first  knew  that  she  had  had  another  marital  ex- 
perience. She  was  mine  nov^  and  I  behoved  mine  for- 
ever. So,  when  one  evening  she  dropped  a  casual 
word  which  implied  that  she  had  been  married  more 
than  once  before,  and  then  gave  me  a  frightened  look, 
as  if  expecting  an  indignant  outburst,  I  bore  the  test 
W' ithout  a  change  of  color.  I  even  asked  her  to  tell  me 
her  whole  history,  and  felt  prepared  to  listen  to  it 
calmly.  It  was  at  dusk  and  we  sat  on  a  secluded  piazza 
in  the  rear  of  the  house,  when  the  conversation  took 
this  turn.  I  drew  her  head  to  my  shoulder  while  she 
talked,  so  she  should  be  spared  the  discomfort  of  meet- 
ing my  eyes. 

"  I  was  one  of  the  first  four  hundred  and  fifty  who 
came  to  Grape  Yalley,"  she  began.  ''  It  did  not  look 
much  as  it  does  now.  But  you  don't  care  about  that. 
1  came  with  my  father  who  was  a  famous  radical,  and 
who  gladly  put  all  his  own  property  into  this  experiment. 
Those  who  were  already  married  lived  as  we  are  Hving 
now  in  separate  houses.  Most  of  us,  however,  were  un- 
married then,  and  occupied  rooms  in  the  phalanstery. 
There  was  but  one  phalanstery  at  that  time.  There 
are  six  now.  Forenoons  Ave  were  at  work.  Afternoons 
we  usually  gave  to  reading  or  study,  while  the  even- 
ings went  for  amusement  and  social  intercourse  in  our 
large  hall.     I  was  called  pretty  then." 

Of  course  I  kissed  the  beautiful  up-turned  face,  and 
gave  the  proper  rebuke  to  her  false  modesty.  Then 
she  continued  with  a  laugh: 


All  Experiment  in  Marriage.  Ill 

"  Bat  not  as  pretty  as  you  call  me  now.  Love  and 
courtship  were  in  tlie  air.  I  was  w^ooed  to  my  heart's 
content.  But  I  did  not  know  what  love  was,  much 
less  what  marriage  ought  to  be.  I  thought  if  I  liked 
and  respected  a  man,  and  if  there  was  nothing  m  Ins 
person  which  oii^ended  me,  that  was  reason  enongh  for 
marrying  him  if  he  asked  me.  I  laughed  at  what  I 
considered  the  wild  words  of  passionate  lovers.  I 
thought  they  must  be  constituted  very  differently  from 
me,  \)r  else  language  meant  very  little  to  them. 
You  must  remember  it  was  not  because  I  was  rebellious 
against  the  restrictions  which  civilization  puts  about 
the  passion  of  men  and  women  tliat  I  came  hither. 
I  was  here  simply  because  my  father  was  a  convert,  and 
brought  me.  So  when  I  married  it  was  a  friend  of  my 
fathe'r's,  an  elderly  man  who  had  as  little  sentiment 
about  the  relations  of  the  sexes  as  myself.  He  was  an 
enthusiast  over  the  solution  of  the  labor  problem,  and 
was  a  firm  believer  in  the  emancipation  of  women 
throudi  pecuniary  independence  and  free  divorce. 
Toward  me  he  was  always  polite,  and  used  to  talk  a 
great  deal  about  the  principles  of  the  new  order,  but 
not  at  all  of  love  or  sentiment." 

Kate  sighed  and  was  silent  for  a  moment. 

''It  can't  be,"  I  broke  in  sharply,  "  that  yon  regret  a 
man  whom  you  do  not  think  loved  you  even  for  one 
minute?" 

"  Oh,  no,  it  was  not  for  him  I  sighed  just  now.  1 
was  thinking  of  my  father." 

''Why  have  I  not  seen  your  father  ?  " 

She  pressed  my  hand.  "  He  died  when  T  had  been 
married  two  years.  Upon  him  I  had  lavished  all  the 
tenderness  a  woman  must  give  somewhere.  When  he 
died  I  suffered  intensely,  but  my  poor  husband  could 
not  give  me  the  smallest  consolation.  Yet  I  so  longed 
for  love  then.  For  weeks  I  did  little  else  than  moan 
and  weep,  and  the  obvious  discomfort  I  caused  my  un- 
sympathetic husband  was  almost  absurd.     I  grew  to 


112  All  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

despise  him,  and  so  the  first  joung  man  after  that  who 
breathed  a  woi'd  of  ordinary  human  sympathy  into  my 
ear  won  my  heart.  It  was  a  month  from  the  death  of 
my  father  that  I  had  become  unmarried  again.  As  for 
my  first  husband,  he  has  not  ventured  a  second  time 
into  matrimony.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  tender 
impulsive  girls  marry  such  men  in  the  outside  world, 
and  beat  their  very  life  out  against  such  cold,  unrespon. 
sive  natures.  There  is  no  release  except  in  death. 
In  six  months  I  had  married  the  young  man  who 
had  first  comforted  me.  His  affectation  of  pity  had 
won  fondness  from  me  which  was  as  near  love  as  my 
nature  was  ripe  for  then." 

She  released  my  hand  for  a  moment,  and  turned  her 
face  a  little  more  away  from  me.  "  My  life  with  this 
young  man  was  an  experience  I  do  not  like  to  call  to 

mind.    I  do  not  doubt  that  even  Ralph but  never 

mind  his  name,  I  don't  doubt  that  even  he,  sensual 
as  was  his  nature,  purely  physical  as  was  his  whole  at- 
traction toward  our  sex,  served  to  develop  me.  Yet 
he  had  no  conception  of  intellectual  or  spiritual  attrac- 
tion. His  love  was  nothing  but  animalism,  and  in  my 
ignorance  I  believed  him  to  be  what  lovers  always 
were.  To  be  sure  my  first  husband  was  not  of  his  sort, 
but  my  first  husband,  I  remembered,  had  no  idea  of 
love  of  any  kind.  I  believed  I  had  now  married  a 
representative  man,  the  sort  of  creature  women  die  for, 
the  hero  of  love  sonnets,  the  ideal  of  sentimental  girl- 
hood which  does  not,  in  its  purity,  suspect  the  brute 
under  the  thin  disguise.  If  my  first  marriage  failed  to 
teach  me  the  real  meaning  of  the  sexual  relation,  I  cer- 
tainly learned  to  despise  it  as  exemplified  in  my  sec- 
ond. I  pitied  every  wife  in  Grape  Yalley.  I  hated 
every  man  in  Christendom.  But  speedy  as  was  my 
conviction  that  marriage  was  too  great  a  degradation 
for  me,  this  second  husband  of  mine  was  before  me 
with  his  application  for  divorce.  He  had  wearied  of 
me  already,  and  had  passed  on  to  educate  some  other 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  113 

woman.  I  could  but  think  of  the  shame  worse  than 
death  of  being  bound,  as  countless  women  are  to  such 
husbands  for  life,  as  completely  grot^s  in  their  nature 
;is  the  beasts  of  the  Held,  selHsli,  cruel  creatures  of  flesh, 
to  whom  women  are  simply  victims." 

She  gave  a  shudder  of  repugnance  and  continued  :  "  I 
lived  at  the  phalanstery  for  two  years  after  this.  A 
woman  once  married  has  the  choice  between  her  allotted 
house  and  the  phalanstery.  I  became  a  satirist  on  mar- 
riage, even  as  it  is  in  Grape  Valley.  If  indeed  all  men 
were  aamy  second  husband,  love  was  a  mockery,  and 
women  would  only  be  really  emancipated  when  they 
ceased  to  marry  at  all.  I  was  quite  a  favorite  in  the 
theatricals  we  had  at  the  hall,  and  the  object  of  the  at- 
tentions of  many  suitors.  But  it  was  only  after  being 
convinced  that  all  men  were  not  beasts  that  I  married 
Henry  Yegas.  1  was  not  infatuated  with  him,  I  was 
not  oblivious  to  his  faults,  which,  however,  I  will  not 
rehearse.  But  until  I  met  you,  I  thought  I  loved  him 
and  that  he  loved  me."  Then  she  raised  her  head 
from  my  shoulder  and  throwing  her  arms  about  my 
neck,  turned  her  eyes  to  mine.  "  Xow  I  know  not 
only  that  I  did  not  love  him  but  that  he  did  not  truly 
love  me." 

I  kissed  her,  but  an  uncomfortable  thought  was 
troubhng  me.     "  May  I  ask  you  one  more  question  ?  " 

''  Any  thiugyou  like,"  she  answered,  without  remov- 
ing her  arms  f lom  my  neck. 

*'•  Have  you  had  no  children  ? " 

"None,"  she  answered.  "But  if  I  had  been  a 
mother,you  know, the  children  would  not  be  wuthme." 

"  I  know,"  I  answered,  '•  the  nursery  and  schools  take 
the  little  ones."  I  hesitated  a  moment  and  then  I 
added  softly:  "  I  do  not  believe  this  part  of  the  system 
v\'ould  suit  me.  Would  you  leave  Grape  Valley  if  I 
asked  you  ? " 

She  had  dropped  her  eyes,  although  her  arms  still 
clasped  my  neck.  Her  face  flushed  with  emotion  as 
15 


114  A?i  Exjyerinient  iii  Marriage. 

she  answered  :  '^  I  will  go  where  you  ask  me  to  go.  I 
believe  in  yon  so." 

The  next  afternoon  I  suggested  to  Kate  that  we 
visit  the  nursery  together.  1  felt  that  there  was  no 
detail  of  the  whole  system  more  important  tlian  this 
matter  of  the  disposition  of  the  children.  She  readily 
assented,  but  just  as  we  were  setting  out  who  should 
appear  at  our  door-step  but  Mr.  Gillette,  come  to  pay 
us  ]iis  first  call  since  our  marriage  ?  Gillette  was  always 
charming  and  full  of  tact,  genial  in  his  manner,  appa- 
rently enjoying  our  society,  and  eager  that  we  should 
enjoy  his.  He  congratulated  me  on  the  good  work 
Ward  and  I  were  doing  in  the  "  Fraternity  "  ofhce, 
and  said  it  was  exciting  general  interest.  He  spoke  of 
the  plans  for  a  new  sort  of  evening  entertainment  at 
the  phalanstery  halls.  Finally  he  announced  that  he 
should  start  on  another  trip  East,  during  the  next  week, 
and  remarked  : 

"  Before  I  go  we  must  organize  an  expedition  to  the 
gold  mines."  Then  he  added :  ''I  take  it  for  granted 
that  the  temporary  insanity  which  made  us  want  to  keep 
the  treasure  for  ourselves  has  left  us  all  long  ago." 

"  Of  course,"  I  answered.  "  But  how  can  we  reach 
the  mines  ?  "  I  asked.  ^'  Must  Kapid  river  be  drawn 
off  again,  and  so  every  time  when  the  miners  set  out 
for  the  mine,  or  return  from   it  'i  " 

"You  doubtless  remember,"  answered  Gillette, 
"  that  the  gold  mine  was  found  at  the  head  of  a  sec- 
ond gorge,  perhaps  a  former  bed  for  Rapid  river,  or 
certainly  for  some  stream.  "  Well,  I  think  I  have 
found  a  spot  where  that  gorge  opens  into  this  valley." 

"  Then  all  we  shall  have  to  do,"  I  exclaimed  eagerly, 
"  will  be  to  follow  up  the  ravine  to  the  placer  mine." 
A  sudden  thought  struck  me.  "  But  what  object  can 
be  so  much  gold  to  this  community  ? " 

*^  It  would  be  of  little  good,  except  for  its  purchas- 
ing power  outside,  as  we  all  appreciate,  but  through 
that  purchasing  power  it  will  be  of  inestimable  value 


An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage,  115 

to  us.  Our  gold  mine,  if  it  is  as  rich  as  we  believe, 
will  make  a  great  change  in  Grape  Yallej.  We  are 
comfortable  now  ;  we  ujaj  be  luxurious.  We  live  in 
simple  homes ;  we  may  be  able  to  convert  them  into 
mansions." 

'•  Shall  we  start  on  our  exploring  expedition  to-mor- 
row ? "  I  asked. 

^'  Why  not  ?"  Then  he  rose  to  his  feet.  "  But  I 
see  Mrs.  Vinton  is  dressed  for  the  street.  I  am  de- 
taining you." 

"  We  are  going  to  the  nursery,"  answered  Kate,  ris- 
ing. "  It  would  be  pleasant  to  have  you  go  with  us. 
You  could  explain  to  Mr.  Vinton  better  than  I.  Besides, 
he  always  stares  when  he  hears  me  talk  half  reasonably 
about  the  principles  of  our  life  here." 

So  Gillette  went  with  us. 

*'  This  is  the  nursery  proper,"  said  Gillette,  w^hen 
after  a  short  walk,  he  stopped  us  in  front  of  a  large 
building,  in  general  appearance  resembling  the  phalan- 
steries. "  Here  our  little  ones  are  kept  and  cared  for 
until  about  six  years  old.  Sometimes  they  stay  for  a 
shorter,  and  sometimes  for  a  longer  period,  depending, 
of  course,  on  the  greater  or  less  precocity  of  the 
child.  When  old  enough  for  school,  the  children  are 
transferred  to  the  building  in  the  rear,  with  the  white 
pillars,  which  you  see.  Still  another  building  takes 
them  at  eleven,  and  keeps  them  until  seventeen,  after 
which  they  are  ready  for  advanced  training,  industrial 
and  intellectual,  until  twenty-two." 

"Are  they  separated  from  their  parents  all  these 
years  \ "  I  inquired,  and  I  know  I  looked  any  thing 
but  satisfied  with  this  feature  of  Grape  Valley  life. 

"  Separated  from  their  parents  ? "  repeated  Gillette. 
"  Why,  there  is  no  separation  at  all.  In  infancy,  in 
youth,  in  early  manhood  and  womanhood,  the  children 
meet,  know  and  love  their  fathers  and  mothers  to  the 
heart's  content  of  all  concerned.  All  the  features  of 
the  relation  of  parent  and  child  which  give  unselfish 


116  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

joy  are  gratified  throiigli  our  system.  The  family,  as 
an  alliance,  offensive  and  defensive,  against  the  world, 
however,  has  no  occasion  in  a  state  of  society  where 
the  feeling  of  good-will  and  fraternity  is  universal. 
Fathers  and  mothers  are  no  longer  the  stern  mentors, 
the  masters  and  mistresses  of  their  children,  forced  to 
discipline  more  often  than  to  pet,  and  in  case  of  the 
death  of  a  child,  having  usually  more  words  of  irrita- 
tion to  repent  than  memories  of  caresses  to  cherish. 
Under  our  system  parents  seem  to  their  children  love 
and  tenderness  personified.  The  natural  emotions 
have  full  scope  unmixed  with  the  vocation  of  teacher 
or  disciplinarian.  Why,  my  dear  Yinton,  our  system 
of  nurture  and  edncation  of  children  is  as  satisfaclory 
in  its  results  as  the  altered  relations  of  the  sexes  here. 
But  let  us  go  inside  the  nursery." 

There  was  not  the  slightest  restriction  upon  our 
coming  and  going  as  w^e  washed.  Indeed,  many  men 
and  women  entered  wdiile  w^e  were  there,  some  in 
pairs,  but  others  alone.  Each  seemed  to  know  just 
where  the  little  one  he  or  she  sought  w^as  to  be  found, 
and  the  joy  shining  in  baby  eyes  and  the  smiles  dimp- 
ling baby  cheeks  were  sweet  to  see.  If  the  visitor 
w^ere  a  man  a  short  call  usually  sufficed.  The  nurse 
put  the  little  one  on  its  points  and  the  father  admired 
and  kissed  his  baby  for  the  usual  length  of  time  babies 
are  wont  to  amuse  their  fathers  the  world  over.  Then  the 
men  were  wont  to  saunter  out.  But  most  of  the  mothers 
came  to  spend  hours,  and  no  nurses  were  needed  then, 
you  may  be  sure. 

In  other  rooms  were  children  who  could  play  and 
talk,  and  there,  too,  were  fathers  and  mothers  listen- 
ing in  delight  to  the  prattle  of  infancy  and  joining  in 
the  games.  A  happier  sight  I  had  not  seen  in  Grape 
Valley. 

"How  long  can  the  parents  stay  with  their  little 
ones?"  I  asked. 

"  All  daj^  and  all  night,  too,"  answered  Kate,  "  if 


A71  Experiment  in  Marriage,  117 

they  choose,  always  provided  they  do  not  interfere 
with  the  sanitary  rules  of  the  nursery." 

<'What  more  could  a  parent's  heart  desire?"  de- 
manded Gillette.  "During  his  working  and  his  sleep- 
ing hours  his  babies  are  well  tended  and  carefully 
nursed.  Their  food  is  the  most  healthful  than  can  be 
provided,  and  every  device  of  science  and  invention  is 
exhausted  to  insure  health,  growth  and  entertainment. 
Whatever  leisure  the  parent  may  have  can  be  spent 
with  the  children,  if  desired.  To  be  sure  the  parents 
of  Grape  Yalley  are  not  deprived  of  needed  sleep  by 
the  demands  of  the  baby ;  to  be  sure  the  mothers  are 
not  worried  out  of  their" health  and  defrauded  of  their 
youth  by  the  tasks  of  doing  housework,  attending  to  a 
husband's  necessities,  and  nursing  crying  and  unhappy 
children.  I  know  that  you  are  a  httle  prejudiced 
against  this  one  of  our  institutions.  Admit  now,  don't 
you  begin  to  think  we  do  these  things  better  here  'i  " 

"  But  some  mothers  would,  I  should  think,  want  to 
be  with  their  babies,  and  care  for  them  more  than  dur- 
ing what  you  call  their  leisure,"  I  objected. 

^'  Our  system  is  elastic  enough  to  suit  such  cases," 
replied  Gillette.  "  If  }  ou  will  notice,  my  dear  Yin- 
ton,  I  think  you  will  see  that  such  mothers  have  every 
right  or  privilege  they  could  desire.  A  mother,  who 
chooses,  can  have  nursing  assigned  to  her  for  her  labor, 
and  so  can  stay  with  her  little  one  as  long  as  in  this 
building.  In  such  cases  she  is  taken  from  the  rolls  of 
her  previous  employment  and  entered  here.  It  is  from 
such  women,  indeed,  that  the  furce  of  nurses  is  kept 
supplied,  their  hours  of  labor,  however,  being  made  as 
light  as  those  of  other  workers.  In  such  cases  the  hus- 
band rooms  here  with  his  wife  as  long  as  she  remains. 
As  a  matter  of  experience  we  have  found,  however, 
that  while,  of  course,  most  mothers  remain  here  for 
about  a  year,  after  that  period  they  usually  prefer  to 
resume  their  regular  avocations  and  live  in  a  home  by 
themselves." 


118  A7i  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

Before  talking  any  further  we  began  a  tour  of  the 
building.  There  was  perfect  cleanliness  everywhere, 
and  the  sweet-faced  babies  in  every  stage  of  growth, 
from  that  of  a  few  weeks  and  long  dresses,  to  the  tod- 
dlers, just  taking  their  first  steps,  and  the  rosnpers, 
with  bright  eyes,  rosy  cheeks  and  curling  locks,  made 
an  enchanting  spectacle. 

"  Behind  these  portals  are  the  very  little  ones," 
smiled  Gillette,  as  we  passed  a  row  of  chamber  doors, 
"and  their  mothers." 

"  Then  this  is  a  lying-in  hospital,  as  well  as  a  nur- 
sery ? "  I  inquired. 

"  Yes,"  he  answered,  *'  the  women  of  Grape  Yalley 
in  coming  here  are  assured  the  best  of  care  and  medi- 
cal attendance,  and  the  little  one  from  the  moment 
of  its  arrival  in  the  world  is  subjected  to  only  the  best 
advised  sanitary  influences.  The  first  few  weeks  of  a 
baby's  life  should  have  the  wisest  of  nursing  and  most 
judicious  management.  J^othing  should  be  left  to 
accident  or  to  indiscreet  if  affectionate  attendants. 
We  have  prevented  that  careless  nurture  of  very  little 
children  which  in  the  outside  world  results  so  com- . 
monly  in  the  slaughter  of  the  innocents." 

Then  Gillette  took  us  to  the  room  where  the  larger 
children  were  at  play,  watched  and  assisted  by  their 
nurses,  and  the  numerous  visitors,  and  having  most 
royal  fun.  The  door  into  the  playground  was  wide 
open,  and  each  child  took  its  own  choice  of  indoor  or 
ontdoor  delights. 

"  Even  the  plays  of  the  children,"  said  Gillette,  "  we 
make  the  means  of  their  education,  moral,  intellectual 
and  physical.  All  plays  which  really  interest  children 
do  so  because  they  develop  certain  faculties  or  muscles, 
employ,  and  hence  educate  certain  moral  qualities.  It 
is  because  manufacturers  do  not  remember  this  fact 
that  children  in  the  outside  world  throw  away  so  many 
of  the  toys  brought  them  by  fond,  but  not  discrimi- 
nating parents  and  fi'iends,  and  prefer  some  rude  inveu- 


An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage.  119 

tions  of  their  own.  In  Grape  Valley  we  make  use  of 
our  knowledge  of  tliis  principle  in  onr  scheme  of  edu- 
cation, beginning  at  infancy  and  lasthig  through  all  our 
school  pej-Iod.  We  make  the  plays  and  the  sports  edu- 
cate, and  in  turn  we  make  education  entertaining." 

Then  we  glanced  into  the  dining-room  with  its  rows 
of  high  chairs  and  dainty  trays.  The  bed-rooms  next 
came  in  for  our  attention,  and  a  more  sweetly  sug- 
gestive sight  than  the  hundreds  of  little  cribs,  in 
each  of  which  nestled  at  night  some  little  one  fresh 
from  the  clouds,  I  do  not  expect  ever  to  see.  Then 
we  glanced  into  the  hospital,  happily  unoccupied. 

"  No  children  are  sick,  I  am  glad  to  see." 

*'  Sickness  is  a  very  rare  thing  with  our  little  ones," 
answered  Gillette.  '^  Their  nurture  as  you  have  seen 
is  not  a  matter  of  accident.  Each  one  is  always  under 
the  eyes  of  the  nurses,  whose  entire  duty  it  is  to  look 
out  for  the  health  and  entertainment  of  their  charges. 
Such  a  thing  as  an  exposure  to  chill,  or  too  great  heat 
of  the  sun,  or  as  over- excitement,  injudicious  eating, 
serious  falls,  or  accidents  of  any  sort,  are  well-nigh  im- 
possible. So  they  grow  up  strong  and  robust,  and  will 
make  healthy  men  and  women,  with  every  advantage  for 
after  life  which  perfect  physical  condition  can  give. 
So,  too,  they  will  be  more  likely  in  turn  to  have  healthy 
offspring.  Calisthenics  are  also  provided  to  form  and 
develop  the  children's  muscles,  and  promote  complete 
circulation  of  the  blood.  A  few  generations  of  such 
physical  training  as  the  children  and  youth  of  Grape 
Valley  receive  will  produce  a  new  athletic  race  of  both 
sexes." 

"  It  is  a  most  charming  place,"  I  said  as  we  made 
our  way  slowly  to  the  street.  "  I  would  not  have  be- 
lieved it  possible  yon  could  have  solved  the  diflSculty 
so  well." 

"  Yes,"  remarked  Gillette.  ^'  You  see  that  we  had 
a  great  difficulty  to  overcome.  There  were  three 
reasons  why  children  and  parents  could  not  live  in  one 


120  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

family  under  our  system.  First,  it  would  have  inter 
fered  with  the  attention  of  husbands  and  wives  to  each 
other,  have  shut  the  women  out  from  social  pleasures,  and 
have  made  impossible  the  financial  independence  which 
alone  can  emancipate  them.  Second,  without  the  labor 
of  the  women  in  general  industry,  we  could  not  re- 
duce the  hours  as  much  as  was  advisable.  Third,  the 
presence  of  children  in  a  home  would  be  insurmount- 
able obstacles  to  free  divorce.  But  while  we  solved 
those  difficulties  and  without  antagonizing  nature  in 
her  smallest  promptings,  without  flying  in  the  face  of 
any  instinct,  we  have  accomplished  most  excellent  re- 
sults in  other  directions.  The  children  are  the  future 
members  of  the  social  State.  They  should  be  fitted  for 
their  duties  and  enjoyments  by  the  State  herself,  for 
whose  well-being  and  for  the  gradual  uplifting  of 
human  nature  it  is  vital  that  the  children  im- 
bibe no  mischievous  individualizing  ideas  such  as  tend 
to  disintegrate  society,  which  should  be  organized  on 
universal  relations  of  fraternity.  Under  our  sj^stem, 
too,  tlie  parents  need  be  put  to  no  anxiety  as  to  the  sup- 
port or  education  of  their  child.  All  this  is  taken  from 
their  shoulders  by  the  State.  The  intense  desire  of 
parents  that  their  offspring  should  have  every  possible 
advantas^e  in  their  start  in  life  is  at  once  a  cause  of 
harrowing  anxiety  and  a  constant  spur  to  overwork. 
Yet  in  civilization  that  longing  is  seldom  gratified. 
Here,  on  the  other  hand,  every  child  is  assured  a  com- 
plete and  symmetrical  education,  and  is  started  in  life 
with  all  the  natural  powers  in  the  most-perfect  possible 
development.  "What  consummation  could  be  more  de- 
voutly wished  for  by  any  father  or  mother  ?  Moreover 
the  life  and  activity,  hopes  and  fears  of  men  and  women, 
when  just  entering  upon  what  should  be  their  most 
pleasant  and  useful  period,  need  not  be  entirely  ab- 
sorbed in  providing  for  the  present  or  future  of  their 
children.  The  mother  may  retain  here  her  fresh- 
ness of  mind  and  body.     Her  vigor  and  vitality  are 


An  Experiment  in  Carriage.  121 

not  sapped  by  tlie  constant  care  of  cliildren  at  a  time 
when  she  should  be  in  her  glory.  She  can  contmue  to 
be  ornamental  and  useful  to  society.  She  is  able  also 
to  continue  to  make  herself  pleasing  to  her  husband, 
to  hold  fast  his  attachment  if  there  is  the  proper  re- 
lation between  them,  and  if  on  the  other  hand,  he  proves 
not  to  be  her  ideal,  she  has  kept  her  attractiveness,  and 
is  likely  to  make  a  new  and  more  happy  connection." 

"  But,"  I  suggested,  "  this  nurture  of  the  children  by 
the  State  would  naturally  tend  to  destroy  individuality, 
I  should  think,  and  make  the  man  and  woman  of  the 
future  less  interesting  and  less  useful." 

Kate  made  haste  to  reply:  ''  If  we  have,  through  our 
system,  prevented  the  perpetuation  of  some  of  the 
eccentricities  which  make  people  different,  I  think  it  a 
ganeral  advantage." 

Gillette  listened  to  Kate's  remark  with  interest,  but 
apparently  he  concluded  she  had  not  disposed  of  the 
whole  question.  "  Our  system,"  he  said,  "  gives  to  all 
the  benefits  of  the  best'  conditions  for  nurture  and 
education,  so  that  no  victim  of  circumstances  can  ever 
grow  lip  in  Grape  Yalley  to  curse  early  associations  or 
lack  of  training.  I  think  the  breadth  of  our  scheme 
of  education  will  provide,  too,  against  distorted  or  per- 
verted growths,  which  are  commonly  due  to  narrow 
influences  and  limited  knowledge.  Our  graduates, 
too,  will  be  certain  to  have  the  personal  habits  and 
manners  of  what  are  called  in  your  civilization  gentle- 
men and  ladies.  But  as  the  same  sunlight,  the  same 
showers,  the  same  variety  of  soil  develop  different 
seeds  into  entirely  different  fruits  and  flowers,  so^  the 
infinite  diversities  of  inherited  traits  and  capacities 
must  develop  into  diversified  maturity  in  human  be- 
ings. Just  as  different  fruits  and  flowers  intensify  their 
diversity  under  the  highest  cultivation,  so  it  will  be 
with  our  nurture  and  education  of  the  human  slips 
committed  to  the  broad  and  universal  care  of  the  State. 
The  variations  caused  oy  comparative  ignorance  or 
16 


122  A7i  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

knowledge,  by  unnatural  perversions  of  disposition  or 
of  taste,  from  scant  or  defective  education  will,  I  hope, 
disappear.  But  the  men  and  women  of  the  future, 
the  graduates  of  our  State  nurseries  and  schools,  will 
show  far  more  variety  of  excellence,  far  more  diver- 
sity in  genius  than  has  ever  been  dreamed  of  in  the 
past." 

"  You  think  the  education  of  the  child I'en  is  the 
reasonable  service  of  the  State  \ "  I  remarked,  as  we 
turned  into  our  own  street. 

"Yes,  for  two  reasons," answered  Gillette.  "  First, 
because  the  State  can  do  it  so  much  better,  as  I  have 
been  showing ;  second,  because  the  burden  is  too  great 
for  the  individual.  The  father,  freed  from  such 
responsibilities,  can  give  his  energies  to  perfecting  him- 
self, extending  the  scope  of  his  usefulness  to  his  lellows 
as  well  as  enjoying  the  fulness  of  the  lover  relation 
with  his  w^ife.  The  burden  which  weighs  down  the 
father  usually  cruslies  the  mother,  and  by  its  removal 
she  leaps  at  once  into  the  glory  of  comj)lete  woman- 
hood, the  source  of  infinite  improvement  and  inspira- 
tion to  society.  Thus  our  species  will  make  rapid  pro- 
gress as  much  through  the  continued  education  of  tlie 
parent  as  through  the  better  education  of  the  children." 

By  this  time  w^e  had  arrived  at  our  home,  and  Gil- 
lette w^as  raising  his  hat  at  parting,  but  I  detained 
him. 

"By  the  way,  why  don't  you  invite  me  to  your 
house  {     Where  do  you  live,  anyhow  ?  " 

"  At  the  phalanstery,  No.  1,"  he  answered  with  a 
laugh.  "  Come  up  and  see  me."  And  he  hurried  olf 
as  if  to  shut  off  further  questioning. 

"Poor  fellow,"  I  said  as  I  put  my  arm  about  the 
shoulders  of  my  sweet  wdfe.  "  You  don't  mean  to  say 
he  is  not  married?      That  is  very  strange." 

"  Charming  as  he  is,"  answered  Kate,  as  soon  as  her 
lips  w^ere  free  again,  "  he  has  failed  to  commend  him- 
self to  the  only  woman  in  Grape  Valley  he  has  ever 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  123 

seemed  to  care  for.  Oh  no,  I  don't  mean  mjself,"  she 
laughed.  "  But  they  now  say  that  he  has  found  con- 
solation in  a  rich  widow  of  New  York,  and  is  likely 
soon  to  bring  her  to  Grape  Valley." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  next  day  the  proposed  exploring  party  was  or- 
ganized and  we  set  out  for  the  Kapid  river  placer  mine, 
ma  what  was  known  as  White  Gorge.  The  party  was 
composed  of  Gillette,  Ward  and  me  as  leaders  and 
guides,  the  mining  expert  of  the  settlement,  Harvey 
by  name,  and  a  half  dozen  able-bodied  men,  whose 
names  are  of  no  importance  in  this  history.  We  had 
two  pack  mules  loaded  with  implements  for  washing- 
out  the  "  23ay  dirt  "  in  a  more  modern  fashion  than  be- 
fore, axes  to  clear  away  the  path  when  necessary,  and 
provisions  for  two  days. 

The  trip  thither  was  witliout  accident,  but  involYed 
a  considerable  amount  of  hardship  and  un  poetic  labor. 
The  theory  of  Gillette  as  to  the  location  of  the  mine 
proved  to  be  correct.  For  many  hours  before  we 
reached  our  destination  we  could  hear  the  dull  roar  of 
Rapid  river,  which  grew  loader  and  fiercer  every  rod 
we  cut  our  way  through  the  thickets,  until  we  reached 
the  head  of  White  Gorge  and  saw  the  stream  rush 
boiling  and  seething  on  its  course  down  the  canon. 
For  the  first  few  seconds,  Gillette,  Ward  and  I  stood  a 
little  apart  and  looked  down  the  canon  where  we  liad 
fled  only  a  few  weeks  ago  from  the  madly  pursuing 
river.  It  was  as  if  the  river  had  been  a  dire  monster 
set  to  guard  the  treasure  of  gold,  as  if  he  had  been 
bound  hand  and  foot  for  awhile,  but  when  our  profane 
ej^es  had  searched  out  the  secret  he  protected,  he  had 
burst  from  all  restraint  and  rushed  upon  us  with  awful 
fury.  Even  now  he  was  cursing  us  in  impotent  wrath, 
and  when  some  spray  from  the  foaming  stream  leaped 


An  Exjyeriment  in  Marriage,  125 

higher  tlian  tlie  rest,  it  almost  seemed  as  if  we  should 
yet  be  overwhelmed. 

''  Show  ITS  your  mine,"  demanded  the  practical  Har- 
vey.    ''  "We  have  no  time  to  waste." 

"  I  see  notliing  that  looks  like  a  gold  deposit,"  said 
another.     "  Perhaps  you  dreamed  it." 

It  took  but  a  moment,  however,  to  lead  them  to  the 
knoll  where  Ward  had  taken  up  the  first  handful  of 
soil,  and  then  our  seven  companions  became  as  excited 
as  we  had  been  that  other  afternoon.  As  we  watched 
them  the  memory  of  the  baseness  which  had  been  in 
our  hearts  that  shameful  day  came  back  to  us.  Three 
faces  turned  askance  toward  each  other,  and  three  pairs 
of  eyes  sank  in  self-contempt  to  the  ground.  Then 
Gillette  laid  his  hand  on  the^arm  of  one  of  the  ne^v- 
comers,  as  he  said  in  a  brisk  voice:  "  Come  boys,  this 
isn't  business.  Let's  set  our  sluices  and  wash  out  the 
'  pay  dirt '  to  some  purpose." 

Every  thing  was  soon  made  ready  for  the  test.  The 
sluice  was  arranged  so  that  it  took  its  supply  of  run- 
ning water  just  where  tlie  river  made  a  sharp  descent. 
In  tiie  bottom  of  the  sluice  were  the  ''  riffles  "  to  catch 
the  gold  as  it  sank  of  its  own  weight  freed  from  the 
dissolving  earth.  Then  we  all  tlirew  off  our  coats  for 
the  work  of  washing  for  gold.  Shovelful  after  shovel- 
ful was  taken  from  the  knoll  and  thrown  into  the 
sluice,  and  it  was  not  until  nearly  a  cart-load  of  soil  had 
been  washed  away  that  we  prepared  for  examination. 
As  the  ten  men  bent  low  to  see  how  much,  if  any,  of 
the  precious  metal  had  been  gleaned  from  that  mass 
of  earth,  a  sight  met  our  eyes  which  was  fairly  daz- 
zling. The  places  between  the  riffles  were  packed  with 
gold  dust.  There  was  at  least  live  hundred  dollars' 
worth  of  gold  still  on  the  boards,  and  it  seemed  more 
than  probable  that  in  our  recklessness  we  had  suffered 
as  much  more  to  be  washed  a^vay  into  Rapid  river. 

"  It  is  one  of  the  richest  placer  mines  ever  known,'' 
exclaimed    Harvey.     "If  the  yield  continues  at  this 


126  A7i  Exjperiment  in  Marriage, 

rate  the  streets  of  our  settlement  can  soon  be  paved 
with  gold." 

For  a  few  minutes  we  all  stood  there  fairly  dazed^ 
and  it  was  only  the  fast  deepening  shadows  which  re- 
minded lis  that  it  was  time  to  make  ready  for  the 
night.  While  some  of  us  were  pitching  the  tent, 
others  lighted  a  fire  and  prepared  supper.  As  for 
myself,  1  could  hardly  swallow  a  mouthful.  The  cir- 
cumstances and  their  suggestions  impressed  my  mind* 
and  fancy  overwhelmingly.  As  it  became  quite  dark, 
and  the  litful  gleam  from  the  camp-hre  reflected  from 
the  river  was  the  only  relief  from  the  blackness  of  the 
night,  the  thoughts  bred  of  the  situation  came  faster 
yet  upon  me.  I  felt  I  could  not  endure  the  dull  com- 
monplaces of  the  company,  and  made  my  way  to  a  flat 
rock  overhanging  the  foaming  torrent.  There  I  threw 
myself  down,  intending  to  enjoy  the  sweetness  of 
revery,  without  so  much  as  making  one  demand  upon 
my  will.  In  a  few  minutes,  however,  I  heard  steps 
approaching,  and  then  Ward's  voice  came  out  of  the 
darkness  close  beside  me  : 

"  Where  are  you,  Yinton  ? "  followed  by  a  sugges- 
tion from  Gillette : 

"If  he  doesn't  speak  we  are  likely  to  stumble 
against  him  and  jostle  him  into  Eapid  river." 

I  had  had  quite  enough  experience  of  the  scant 
mercies  of  that  wicked  stream,  and  so  I  responded 
somewhat  ungraciously  to  the  salutations  of  my 
friends,  and  grudgingly  made  place  for  them  on  the 
rock. 

"We  felt  like  talking,"  remarked  Gillette. 

"  I  did  not  feel  so,"  I  retorted. 

"  Well,"  said  Ward,  "  we  will  do  the  talking  and 
vou  need  not  so  much  as  open  your  mouth.  I  say, 
Gillette,"  he  continued,  "this  enormous  find  of  gold 
is  a  strange  thing.  Why,  if  so  much  as  the  vaguest 
rumor  of  what  we  have  done  to-day  was  spread  through 
the  country,  a  hundred  thousand  greedy  men  would 


An  Ejiperiment  in  Marriage.  127 

start  for  Grape  Valley  to-morrow.  Ko  moiintajn 
would  be  liia-li  enoiigli  to  stop  them ;  no  desert  and 
enoucrli.  Starvation,  savage  Indians,  outlaws  and  des- 
peracfoes  more  savage  still,  could  not  hold  them  back. 
The  unquenchable  desire  for  gold  would  burn  fiercer 
than  ever  did  the  delirium  of  fever." 

"  And  millions  of  gold  lie  buried  here  —  enough  to 
buy  all  the  pleasures  of  life  for  thousands  now  sutter- 
in<Thuno'er  of  body,  and  more  intolerable  a  hundred 
times,  hunger  of  soul,  of  taste,  of  intellect."  And  Gil- 
lette sighed.  .  ,.,    , 

My  impatience  at  the  intrusion  upon  my  sohtude 
had  vanished.  These  friends  of  mine  were  voicmg  my 
revery,  making  my  thought  articulate.  I  was  very 
willing  they  should  continue. 

"  I  don't  wonder  at  the  agonizing  struggles  of  men 
for  wealth,"  said  Ward.  "  Although  the  moral  philoso- 
phers  reprove  it,  the  satirists  ridicule  it,  and  the  poets 
decry  it,  isn't  it  true  that  an  abundance  of  money  is 
necessary  to  obtain  every  thing  of  value  in  lite^ 
Without  a  large  share  of  it  w^e  have  cares  and  anxie- 
ties which  torment  the  soul  as  in  a  hell.  Without  it  our 
bodies  lack  the  nutriment,  the  clothing,  the  shelter 
they  require,  and  the  comforts,  the  luxuries  the^^crave, 
without  which  latter  even  we  are  little  better  oil  than 
the  beasts  of  the  field.  The  poor  man  cannot  cultivate 
his  mind  or  his  fancy,  indulge  his  tastes  or  gratify  Ins 
aspirations.  The  world  has  only  wounds  and  bruises 
for  those  who  have  no  gold  in  store.  No  wonder  men 
covet  riches  with  all  their  souls,  no  wonder  that  tor 
them  they  will  commit  all  imaginable  wrongs,  c-rawl  in 
the  mire  of  moral  degradation,  offend  all  laws  of  lienor 
or  iustice.  No  wonder  that  the  dawning  possibility  ot 
acquirincr  wealth  will  make  nine  out  of  ten  human 
beings  i^ady  to  commit  murder  if  necessary  to  make 
the  possibility  a  certainty." 

"  Ah,  Mr.  Ward,"  exclaimed  Gillette, ''  how  well  you 
have  described  the  evils  and  the  monstrous  inhumani- 


128  A7i  Exjperirnent  i7i  Marriage. 

ties  of  the  old  civilization.  It  was  to  cure  the  terrible 
ravages  of  the  disease  you  have  just  diagnosed  that  this 
settlement  was  founded.  In  civilization  one  of  the 
maxims  is:  '  Each  man  for  himself.'  Another,  more 
rudel}^  phrased,  sa^'S :  '  Koot  hog  or  die,'  as  if  all  man- 
kind were  indeed  swine,  brutal,  selfish,  merciless,  greedj. 
In  Grape  Yalley,  by  putting  men  in  the  relation  of 
brothers  to  each  other  all  of  whom  work  for  the  com- 
mon good,  covetousness,  envy,  hate,  treachery,  all  the 
vile  and  hideous  progeny  of  your  system  of  individuahsm 
are  no  more  known." 

The  faces  of  my  two  friends  as  they  sat  at  opposite 
ends  of  the  rock  were  completely  shrouded  in  darkness, 
and  it  was  with  difficulty  I  could  make  out  vague  and 
broken  outlines  of  what-  might  be  hum;an  shapes.  It 
was  as  if  their  voices  came  out  of  the  night,  as  if  invisi- 
ble creatures  of  space  were  debating,  over  my  head,  the 
great  problems  of  life.  The  weird  effect  touched  my 
imagination  intensely. 

It  was  a  few  seconds  before  Ward  spoke  again.  It 
seemed  as  if  he  had  been  fairly  silenced  by  Gillette's 
unexpected  retort.  Then  he  took  a  somewhat  different 
line: 

''  But  have  you  yet  stopped  to  calculate,"  he  inquired, 
"what  will  be  the  effect  of  the  discovery  of  this  mine, 
and  of  the  harvesting  here  of  tens  of  millions  of  dollars' 
worth  of  gold  every  year  ? " 

"Why,"  exclaimed  Gillette,  "I  have  no  objection 
to  wealth.  It  is  only  its  unfair  distribution  of  which 
I  complain.  The  gold  we  expect  to  find  here  will  be 
of  the  utmost  advantage  to  us.  We  cm  have  libraries 
which  would  bo  the  envy  of  the  old  universities ;  art 
galleries  worthy  of  Kome  or  Florence,  Paris  or  Dres- 
den, and  architecture,  such  as  never  earthly  city  knew 
yet.  We  can  surround  ourselves  with  ever}^  elegance 
and  with  every  convenience.  What  wealth  can  only 
begin  to  do  in  civilization  for  its  few  possessors  it  will 
accomplish  for  our  whole  settlement.     Suppose  every 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  129 

citizen  of  some  town  in  civilization  a  millionaire ;  im- 
agine, then,  the  grandem-  of  their  buildings;  the  per- 
fection of  their  streets,  the  beauties  of  their  parks. 
There  would  then  be  no  squallor  to  shock  the  senses, 
no  ugliness  to  hurt  the  eye,  no  rude  sounds  to  violate 
the  ear,  no  misery  to  distress  the  heart.  But  that 
picture  would  be  but  a  poor  thing  compared  with  the 
effects  of  the  same  amount  of  wealth  in  a  socialistic 
settlement  like  ours.  The  rule  of  all  for  one,  and  one 
for  all,  would  still  prevail,  and  the  effect  of  the  uni- 
versal wealth  be  multiplied  almost  in  geometrical  pro- 
gression.   We  should  have  an  earthly  paradise  indeed." 

"  But  who  would  do  your  work  ?  "  demanded  Ward. 
"  Who  would  be  disposed  to  do  the  hard  labor  neces- 
sary to  provide  your  happy  valley  with  all  the  won- 
ders of  architecture,  the  marvels  of  convenience  you 
describe  ? '' 

"  It  would  be  clear  enough  to  all,''  continued  Gil- 
lette, "  that  without  continued  labor,  all  our  wealth 
would  be  of  little  value  to  us.  It  would  only  be  by 
improvement  of  the  means  which  nature  had  provided, 
that  the  means  would  effect  the  desired  end.  It  would 
plainly  enough  be  as  necessary  for  all  to  continue  to 
work  in  order  to  enjoy  the  luxuries  and  amenities  great 
wealth  can  give,  as  it  now  is,  in  order  to  satisfy  the 
ordinary  requirements  for  food,  shelter,  clothing  and 
education.  Besides,  we  do  not  regard  labor  here  as  an 
evil,  as  a  humiliation,  or  even  as  a  disagreeable  ne- 
cessity. Under  the  old  system  labor  is  a  badge  of  pov- 
erty, of  weakness,  and  of  subjection,  and  on  that  ac- 
count is  hateful.  Then  your  laborers  work  twice  as 
long  as  they  should,  and  have  merely  their  food  for 
their  labor,  the  same  as  any  beast  of  burden." 

Ward  this  time  made  no  reply,  but  rose  to  his  feet 
as  if  about  to  return  to  the  camp.  I  rose,  too,  but  Gil- 
lette laid  his  hand  on  Ward's  shoulder  to  detain  him, 
and  continued; 

"  Think,  too,  how  this    sudden  discovery  of  enor- 

17 


130"  A7i  Ex'periment  in  Marriage. 

mous  wealth  will  extend  the  possibility  of  spreading 
our  great  truths,  and  making  converts  to  find  happi- 
ness in  Grape  Yalley  and  other  settlements  colonized 
from  liere.  Our  additions  then  would  be  numbered  by 
thousands,  while  now  they  come  by  scores.  To  Grape 
Valley  we  might  not  bring  many  of  them.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  we  have  room  for  more  than  double 
our  present  number.  But  there  are  countless  other 
spots  on  the  earth,  where  truth  can  be  taught  and  its 
principles  practiced  without  interference  from  legis- 
latures, kings,  or  emperors.  So  we  can  have  our  full 
course,  until  we  carry  tlie  whole  of  civilization  with  us." 

JS^ext  morning  we  were  early  at  work,  scraping  the 
gold  from  the  riffles  and  collecting  it  carefully  in  a  ves- 
sel. Then  the  sluice  was  set  once  more  in  position, 
and  Kapid  river  ]30ured  ferociously  down  its  length, 
as  if  doubly  enraged  to  be  forced  to  do  our  service. 
Eagerly  we  began  to  shovel  the  earth  into  the  sluice. 
This  time,  however,  it  was  when  less  than  half  as 
much  earth  had  been  washed  out  as  the  night  before, 
that  we  made  our  examination.  We  did  not  want  again 
to  run  the  risk  of  having  a  considerable  portion  of 
our  treasure  washed  down  the  stream  because  the 
riffles  were  too  full  to  hold  it. 

But  it  appeared  that  we  need  not  have  been  so  cau- 
tious. In  some  of  the  riffles  there  was  no  gold  sedi- 
ment at  all,  in  others  but  very  little.  Our  total  harvest 
was  not  one-twentieth  part  as  much  as  that  of  the  night 
before.  JMobody  ventured  a  word  of  discouragement. 
Not  one  of  us  was  willing  to  admit  to  himself  that 
there  was  a  possibility  of  failure.  The  sluice  was 
cleaned  and  restored  to  its  place,  and,  with  a  new 
feverishness,  we  set  to  work  to  wash  out  a  new  lot  of 
earth. 

Before  my  mind  as  I  dug,  floated  visions  of  the  beau- 
tiful city  of  the  blessed,  to  be  made  possible  by  the 
gold  for  which  we  were  delving.  Such  a  city  no  poet 
ever  ventured  to  describe,  no  artist  to  paint,  no  phil- 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  131 

osopher  to  foreshadow.  It  was  to  be  through  us  that 
the  glorious  dream  would  become  a  fact ;  that  a  city 
which  it  would  be  happiness  to  look  upon  would  be 
built;  and  people  walk  its  streets  to  whose  every  want 
there  would  be  a  full  response,  for  whom  it  would 
only  be  necessary  to  ask  and  it  would  be  given. 
Through  our  discovery,  too,  it  would  be  that  the  work 
of  proselyting  the  woi'ld  at  large  were  undertaken  on  a 
grand  scale,  and  the  ultimate  fulfillment  of  the  mil- 
lennium prophecy  hastened  perhaps  hundreds  of  years. 
My  heart  swelled  with  pride  and  triumph.  How^ 
glorious  that  to  me  should  be  granted  the  privilege  of 
helping  to  bring  about  these  marvelous  results. 

Then  Harvey's  voice  broke  upon  my  revery,  with 
its  hard  practical  tones. 

"  Shall  we  try  again  ?  We  have  thrown  in  at  least 
a  cart-load  of  earth  this  time." 

"  Not  yet,"  said  one  of  the  workers.  '^  Let's  double 
it  and  then  try." 

The  man  voiced  a  common  feehng.  We  all  dreaded 
another  disappointment.  When,  a  few  minutes  later, 
Harvey  told  us  that  we  had  now  washed  out  the  two 
cart-loads,  I  think  most  of  us  were  more  irritated  than 
pleased.  But  the  sluice  was  removed,  and  the  instant 
the  water  ceased  to  flow,  all  bent  over  it  in  hope  of  a 
glad  sight,  all  except  one.  I  drew  back  and  leaned 
upon  my  shovel,  and  listened  tor  the  announcement. 
I  did  not  even  look  at  the  eager  company.  But  my 
ears  were  all  the  keener  for  the  first  sonud  that  should 
betray  the  truth.  As  they  looked  there  w^as  not  so 
much  as  a  single  exclamation,  not  a  word,  and  the 
silence  told  me  more  forcibly  than  words  could  have 
done,  that  it  must  be  there  was  even  less  gold  than  be- 
fore on  the  riffles.  As  I  stood  there  wdth  wandering 
eyes  and  pale  face,  while  my  sense  of  hearing  was 
strained  for  the  merest  syllable,  my  dreams  took  flight, 
my  ecstasy  of  triumph  turned  to  the  anguish  of  disap- 
pointment and  humiliation. 


133  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

All  day  long  we  shoveled  and  washed,  and  went  to 
sleep  with  bitterness  in  onr  hearts.  Another  day  until 
noon  we  kept  to  our  task,  taking  soil  for  washing 
from  all  parts  of  the  knoll  by  turn,  but  each  time  we 
examined  the  riffles  there  was  less  of  gold  among  them 
than  the  time  previous.  But  it  was  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  that  the  final  washing  was  completed.  Soil 
had  been  scraped  from  the  whole  surface  of  the  knoll 
so  that  this  test  should  be  unerring,  and  when  we  all 
examined  for  the  result,  we  found  absolutely  not  one 
grain  of  gold. 

The  great  placer  mine  had  been  completely  exhausted, 
and  in  almost  perfect  silence  we  packed  our  tent  and 
utensils,  and  started  homeward,  Ward  and  Gillette 
keeping  far  apart  from  each  other  and  from  me. 


CHAPTER  XV 

Married  life  in  Grape  Yalley  was  very  different  from 
married  life  in  civilization.  Tlie  wife  was  not  here 
expected  to  devote  her  whole  life  to  serve  and  please 
her  husband,  any  more  than  the  husband  was  expected 
to  limit  all  his  friendly  relations  with  women  to  his 
wife.  It  was  not  the  theory  in  Grape  Yalley  that 
when  a  woman  married,  she  resigned  all  active  inter- 
ests except  those  of  her  luisband,  and  henceforth  it 
should  be  enough  for  her  to  make  herself  agreeable  to 
him ;  that  the  opinion  of  othet-  men  was  henceforth  to 
be  of  no  account  to  her.  JN'or  was  it  the  unwritten 
law  here  that  the  husband  should  confine  his  interest 
to  his  wife.  They  were  both  believed  to  be  fitting 
themselves  to  be  worthy  companions,  by  making  the 
most  of  the  social  intimacy  with  both  sexes  encouraged 
in  Grape  Valley.  In  civilization  each  wife  watches 
her  husband  in  his  relation  with  those  of  the  opposite 
sex  with  jealousy,  and  the  husband  recij)rocates  in 
kind.  In  civilization,  too,  there  are  weighty  reasons 
for  this  distrust.  Feeling  sure  that  his  wife  is  his, 
bound  and  fettered  by  law,  the  husband  usually  takes 
little  pains  to  keep  the  admiration  she  cherished  for 
him  in  the  courtship  which  she  never  ceases  to  regret. 
He  does  little  to  entertain  her.  He  no  longer  treats 
her  with  his  earlier  tenderness,  or  makes  her  happy 
with  praises  as  of  old.  With  other  women  he  is  quite 
a  different  creature,  seeing  which  it  is  small  wonder 
she  distrusts  him.  But  she,  too,  is  a  very  much  changed 
woman  from  the  sweetheart  he  used  to  think  so  dainty 


134  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

in  her  pretty  clothes,  so  winning  in  her  manner,  so  ir- 
resistibly  gentle,  so  thrillinglj  responsive.  If  another 
man  pays  her  some  little  attention,  she  is  something 
like  her  old  self  again.  But  to  her  husband  in  his 
own  home  she  is  usnally  as- indifferent  in  her  manner  as 
if  his  opinion  had  ceased  to  concern  her.  She  keeps  in 
the  closet  her  bright  dresses  when  he  alone  is  to  see 
her,  and  even  arranges  her  hair  in  the  most  unattract- 
ive fashion  when  lie  only  is  with  her,  as  if  he  had 
ceased  to  have  eyes  after  marriage,  as  if  the  qualities 
and  graces  which  made  her  seem  beautiful  and  charm- 
ing to  him  when  they  were  lovers,  were  now  of  no  ac- 
count. The  married  man  and  woman  in  civilization 
are  quite  too  sure  of  each  other,  legally,  to  give  them 
motive  enough  to  keep  themselves  attractive.  Thus 
they  leave  each  other  exposed  without  armor  to  the 
charms  of  others,  and  may  well  be  fearful  of  results, 
though  they  seldom  think  of  causes. 

In  Grape  Valley,  however,  as  much  is  expected  by 
society  of  the  man  and  woman  after  marriage  as  be- 
fore. It  is  not  believed  here  that  marriage  is  a  ban, 
condemning  the  husband  and  wife  to  seclusion,  and 
society  to  the  deprivation  of  their  activity.  If  a  hus- 
band and  wife  are  properly  mated,  they  will  love  each 
other  not  the  less,  but  rather  the  more  if  they  continue 
to  meet  others  in  the  unrestrained  social  intercourse  by 
which  development  and  education  are  continued  after 
marriage.  While  aiding  the  whole  community  with 
whatever  good  judgment,  inspired  thought,  poetical 
ideas,  witty  satire,  keen  criticism,  they  may  be  espe- 
cially able  to  give,  they  are  also  rendered  better  com- 
panions to  each  other. 

The  fact  that  there  are  no  home  cares  upon  them 
makes  this  stimulation  and  useful  outside  life  possible. 
The  acceptance  of  the  principle  that  no  marriage  should 
be  a  lasting  one  which  does  not  completely  satisfy,  also 
requires  free  and  continual  social  activity,  as  an  essential 
element  of  the  system;  such  social  activity  as  opens  each 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  135 

one's  eyes  to  the  demands  of  his  nature,  and  makes  re- 
cognition of  harmonious  qiiahties  in  others  possible. 

The  light  repast  which  served  for  a  morning  meal 
was  the  only  one  pi'ejmred  at  home,  and  even  this  was 
very  often  ordered  from  the  general  caterer.  The  mid- 
day hmch  was  taken  wherever  the  forenoon's  work  was 
done,  while  the  principal  meal  of  the  day  took  place  at 
evening,  in  the  dining-room  of  the  phalansteries,  to 
some  one  of  wdiich  all  the  families  were  attached; 
dinners  which  were  more  of  the  nature  of  banquets. 
Husbands  were  assigned  as  escorts  to  other  women  than 
their  wives.  These  meals  w^ere  Cjuite  elaborate,  and 
"were  always  followed  by  short  speeches.  It  w^as  a 
sluo^gish  nature  indeed  which  w^as  not  stimulated  on 
these  occasions,  a  poverty-stricken  man  or  woman, 
whose  intellect,  when  inspired  by  the  influences  of  the 
hour,  could  not  yield  some  treasure  to  enrich  the  mind 
and  experiences  of  others.  Then  came  the  evenings 
in  the  general  phalanstery  halls.  There  were  some- 
times concerts,  vocal  and  instrumental,  sometimes 
theatrical  entertainments.  At  other  times  there  were 
dances  or  games;  still  again  we  w^ould  have  an  essay  on 
some  social  question  or  some  significant  epoch  in  his- 
tory. Then  there  were  debates,  exhibitions  of  psycho- 
logical feats,  and  at  other  times  purely  social  gather- 
ings, at  which  the  assembled  men  and  women  had  no 
entertainment  provided  except  what  they  found  in  each 
other. 

There  was  of  course  no  restraint  laid  upon  any  one 
to  insure  attendance  at  these  gatherings,  but  the  con- 
ditions of  existence  here  were  such  that  it  was  only 
very  exceptionally  that  we  absented  ourselves  from 
them.  Our  labor  was  all  done  in  four  hours  of  the 
day,  so  there  was  no  duty  to  detain  us,  and  the  whole 
of  the  afternoon  was  full  time  enough  for  leisure  or 
readino^.  To  meet  too^ether  and  to  understand  each 
other,  to  grasp  each  other's  feelings,  sound  each  other's 
strength  and  weakness,  lo  exchange  ideas  and  criticisms, 


136  A7i  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

was  at  once  delightful  and  necessary  to  achieve  the  full 
results  of  the  social  institutions  of  Grape  Yalley.  It 
was  in  a  line,  too,  with  the  principles  of  the  system,  to 
di-aw  men  together  as  into  a  common  soul,  overcoming 
the  individualizing  influences  which  are  the  fathers 
and  mothers  of  what  is  called  original  sin. 

The  happiest  year  I  had  ev^er  known  passed  away. 
The  transport  of  my  relation  to  my  wife  was  replaced 
by  a  spirit  of  genial  comradeship,  on  my  side  at  least. 
I  no  longer  felt  as  if  the  place  from  which  she  was 
absent  lacked  something  as  necessary  to  my  comfort  as 
sunlight.  1  no  longer  felt  a  glow  come  over  my  heart 
at  her  approach.  Yet  I  did  not  doubt  that  I  loved  her 
as  much  as  ever.  I  liked  to  be  with  her.  I  enjoyed 
her  conversation,  I  respected  her  opinions,  I  admired 
and  enjoyed  her  beauty.  Surely,  I  told  myself,  it  was 
unnecessary  that  I  should  always  keep  the  ardent  dis- 
position of  the  new  lover.  The  lover  before  marriage, 
and  for  a  short  time  afterward,  is  laboring  under  a 
stress  of  emotion  which  custom  naturally  mitigates. 
As  he  becomes  wonted  to  intimacy  with  the  woman 
whose  very  presence  was  at  first  like  a  strong  draught 
of  wine  to  him,  it  is  reasonable  that  he  should  cease  to 
be  so  overwhelmingly  aiiected.  It  was  not  owing,  I 
thought,  to  abating  love  that  I  was  growing  into  a 
cool,  comfortable,  but  not  at  all  exciting  relation  with 
Kate.  I  was  very  much  at  peace,  completely  satisfied 
with  Grape  Yalley  sociahstic  life,  and  filled  with  great 
hopes  for  the  coming  conversion  to  this  system  of  the 
world  at  large.  I  believed  I  was  as  much  in  love  as 
ever,  but  my  wife  Kate  did  not  entirely  agree  with  me 
on  this  point,  as  will  soon  become  manifest. 

It  was  one  evening  something  over  a  year  after  my 
marriage  that  Kate  and  I  were  putting  a  few  finishing 
touches  to  our  toilets  before  going  to  dinner  at  the 
pljalanstery  hall.  It  was  the  universal  habit  to  appear 
at  all  public  gatherings  in  full  dress.  I  tied  my  cravat 
and  threw  myself  into  an  easy  chair  to  wait  for  Kate. 


A /I  A'xjjerujieni  in  Marriage.  137 

Noticing  that  she  seemed  an  unusually  long  time 
adjusting  her  breast-pin,  I  at  last  cast  a  quick  look  at 
the  mirror  to  see  what  could  be  detaining  her.  1  saw 
to  my  astonishment  that  she  was  weeping.  Her  beau- 
tiful eyes  were  dimmed  with  tears,  and  great  drops 
flowed  down  her  cheeks. 

"  Why,  Kate,  darling,"  I  exclaimed,  leaping  to  my 
feet  and  crossing  to  her  side,  "what  is  the  matter? 
Are  you  sick,  dear  ?  "  And  I  put  my  arm  about  her 
round  waist. 

"If  you  did  that  more  often,"  she  sobbed,  "you 
would  not  have  seen  me  cry^"  Then  she  turned  and 
looking  eagerly  in  my  face,  threw  both  arms  about  my 
neck  in  that  old  impulsive  way  of  hers,  and  putting 
her  head  on  my  shoulder  cried  harder  than  ever. 

To  say  that  I  was  bewildered  and  non-plussed  would 
be  coming  as  near  to  describing  my  feelings  as  perhaps 
words  can  do.  I  did  not  understand  at  all  wdiat  she 
meant,  and  tried  to  tell  her  so  in  the  gentlest  way  I 
could. 

"  It  is  simply  because  I  know  you  do  not  love  me  as 
you  did,"  she  cried.  '''  Don't  tell  me  that  you  do.  Oh, 
I  don't  mean  that.  Tell  me  that  you  do.  Keep  saying 
you  love  me.    I  have  wanted  you  to  say  it  for  so  long." 

"  Don't  my  actions  show  that  I  love  you,  Kate  ?  Am 
I  not  kind  to  you  ?     Am  I  not  happy  with  you  ?  " 

"You  are  kind  simply  because  you  like  me,"  she 
answered,  "  or  because  you  are  sorry  for  me,  or  because 
you  are  so  good  you  could  not  be  any  thing  but  kind 
to  any  one.  Yes,  you  are  somewhat  happy  with  me. 
Are  you  as  happy  as  you  could  be? " 

^* Happy?"  1  echoed.  "Indeed  I  am  happy  as  I 
never  was  before." 

She  gently  released  herself  from  my  embrace,  and 
taking  a  handkerchief  from  the  bureau  dried  her  cheeks. 
"  You  do  not  say  as  much  as  you  once  did  about  how 
dear  I  am  to  you.  Yon  do  not  always  think  to  say 
some  tender  word  for  me  to  remember  when  I  go  out. 
18 


138  An  Expei^iment  in  Marriage. 

Sometimes  I  come  where  you  are,  and  you  do  not  even 
notice  me."  She  hurriedly  completed  her  toilet.  *'Then 
yon  do  not  seem  to  like  to  talk  with  me  as  you  once 
did.  I  notice  you  vdvacious  and  full  of  ideas  when 
with  others,  but  I  seem  to  have  ceased  to  call  out  your 
best,  as  I  should  do  if  you  loved  me.  Then  I  miss  the 
glad  light  of  welcome  in  your  eyes  which  I  used  always 
to  see  there  when  I  came  to  you."  She  put  on  her  hat. 
"  Come,  I  am  ready  now." 

''  But  Kate,"  I  insisted,  "  it  is  not  to  be  expected 
that  we  shall  be  just  as  we  were  while  lovers  —  I 
mean,  before  our  marriage." 

"No,"  she  said  quickly,  "we  should  not  be  just  as 
we  were  before  marriage,  but  if  we  truly  love  each 
other  we  should  be  a  hundred  times  fonder,  since  we 
know  each  other  so  much  better  than  then.  But 
come,  my  dear,"  and  she  moved  toward  the  door,  "it 
is  of  no  use  to  talk  of  these  matters.  All  the  re- 
proaches in  the  world  cannot  make  a  husband's  heart 
beat  one  pulse  faster." 

As  we  entered  the  reception-room  of  our  phalan- 
stery, as  was  the  custom  before  dinner,  I  was  surprised 
and  delighted  to  be  met  by  Gillette,  who  had  been 
absent  in  the  East  on  a  very  long  trip.  I  noticed  at 
once  that  he  was  under  considerable  excitement.  He 
listened  with  ill-disguised  impatience  to  my  expres- 
sions of  pleasure  at  his  return,  and  to  Kate's  greetings. 

"  Come  with  me,"  he  said.  "  I  want  to  present  you 
to  my  wife." 

"  So  you  have  charmed  the  Eastern  beauty  at  last," 
1  laughed.  "  We  shall  be  delighted  to  know  her." 
As  we  started  with  him  he  met  Ward,  whom  he  took 
by  the  arm,  and  in  a  moment  more  had  crossed  the 
room  and  touched  a  queenly  woman  lightly  on  the 
shoulder.  She  turned,  revealed  a  dark,  richly-tinted 
face,  lips  of  vermilion  and  eyes  the  most  bewildering, 
I  thought,  man  had  ever  looked  into. 

"My  wife,"  said   Gillette,   and   as  he   spoke  Mr. 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  139 

Ward's  name  that  gentleman  bowed,  and  then  stole  a 
quick  glance  at  me  where  I  stood  a  little  back  as  if  in 
a  dream. 

''  I  have  met  Mr.  Ward  before,"  she  said,  extending 
her  shapely  hand  to  him  and  then  to  me.  "And  Mr. 
Vinton  is  one  of  my  oldest  friends." 

Yes,  it  was  certainly  minecessary  to  introduce  me  to 
the  woman  wlio  had  been  the  idol  of  my  heart  and 
who  liad  so  basely  jilted  me  two  years  before. 

"Mrs.  Blakesley,"  I  exclaimed,  stupidly,  "and 
here?" 

"  J^ot  Mrs.  Blakesley  at  all,  ray  dear  sir,"  answered 
Gillette,  rather  sharply,  "but  Mrs.  Gillette  for  two 
months  now,  and  right  here  is  the  place  for  her." 

Then 'she  turned  in  that  queenly  fashion  of  hers  I 
used  to  think  so  perfect.  '' But,  my  dear  husband," 
she  said,  in  half-caressing  rebuke,  ''  why  did  you  not 
tell* me  my  old  friend  was  here?  I  suppose  you  did 
not  know  he  was  my  friend."  By  this  time  I  had  re- 
covered my  senses  sufficiently  to  resume  the  manners 
of  a  man  of  society,  and  my  wife  coming  up  was  also 
duly  presented  to  Mv^.  Gillette.  Perhaps  only  two  of  us 
noticed  the  peculiar  look  Mrs.  Gillette  gave  the  woman 
1  had  married  ;  a  measuring  look,  as  if  to  see  how  far 
beneath  herself,  my  old  idol,  I  had  chosen.  Both  Kate 
and  1  saw  ir.  Then  the  chamberlain  came  toward  us, 
and  on  Gillette's  suggestion,  to  me  was  assigned  the 
honor  of  taking  his  wife  into  dinner,  and  to  him  the 
care  of  Kate.  As  Gillette  drew  Kate  away  she  cast 
one  anxious  look  back  at  me,  as  if  fearful  of  the  fascina- 
tions of  my  old  idol,  a  look  which  I  was  extremely  pro- 
voked to  see  was  observed  by  Mrs.  Gillette. 

Our  seats  at  table  were  far  removed  from  those  of 
Mr.  Gillette  and  Kate,  and  my  companion  was  not  slow 
to  avail  herself  of  the  opportunity  to  talk  very  freely. 

"  You  must  wonder  at  my  being  Mrs.  Gillette,"  she 
said.  "  But  I  had  been  a  widow  a  year.  It  is  strange 
you  did  not  know  of  it." 


140  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

''  1  had  tauglit  rajself  that  what  Isabel  Blakesley  did 
was  no  concern  of  mine,"  I  answered. 

"You  blamed  me  too  mncli  for  marrying  Mr. 
Blakesley,"  she  said  softly.  "  Women  of  my  complexion 
are  more  fond  of  wealth  and  power  than  of  love.  The 
former  are  usually  more  lasting,  but  not  always." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  Did  your  husband  lose  his 
money  ? ' ' 

"  When  he  died  I  found  there  was  nothing  of  any 
account  left  for  me  after  paying  his  debts,  that  is," 
she  explained  satirically,  "  all  his  other  debts  had  to  be 
paid  befoi-e  the  great  debt  he  ow^ed  me,  who  married 
him  for  his  money,  was  reached." 

"  You  would  have  done  better  if "  But  I  bit  my 

lip  and  stopped. 

"  If  I  had  married  you  ?  So  I  have  often  thought. 
And  I  would  have  had  such  a  royal  lover,  too,"  she 
added,  with  a  sudden  uplifting  of  her  eyelids  which 
unveiled  an  expression  in  her  eyes  of  bewildering  pas- 
sion. A  wild  rush  of  feeling  overcame  me.  I  saw  the 
others  as  through  a  mist.  She  only  seemed  really 
present.  Once  more  I  felt,  as  I  did  in  the  old  days, 
that  my  wliole  life  was  in  this  woman,  that  I  would  be 
willing  to  die  to-morrow  if  1  could  possess  her  to-day. 
It  was  not  a  spiritual  yearning,  it  was  absolutely  phy- 
sical, but  physical  emotion  to  an  intensity  which  made 
ordinary  feeling  seem  tamenesss  itself. 

"  Be  careful,"  she  murmured,  dropping  her  eyes 
again,  "  people  are  observing  us.  I  will  see  you  alone 
before  I  go  home." 

Then  the  tumult  in  my  veins  turned  to  rapture.  I 
was  sure  now  that  she  saw  my  passion  and  returned  it. 
I  seemed  to  float  on  air.  In  vain  I  made  a  pretense 
of  eating.  I  was  unable  to  swallow  a  mouthful.  I  had 
supped  on  ecstasy.  I  was  surfeited  with  joy.  If  earth 
had  pleasures  greater  than  our  happiness  in  anticipating 
them,  what  a  heaven  this  would  be  !  I  dared  not  trust 
myself  to  look  at  Isabel  again,  but  without  turning  my 


A71  Experiment  in  Marriage.  141 

face  I  saw  tlie  gleam  of  her  glowing  neck,  the  polished 
glories  of  her  matchless  arms,  and  my  passionate  heart 
kept  saying:  "  She  is  mine."  Her  every  motion  sent 
its  different  thrill  of  delight  through  me.  I  listened 
for  her  breathing,  and  when  I  caught  asoftsigli,  it  was 
as  if  my  whole  being  was  lifted  on  a  miglity  wave,  and 
swept  onward  whither  I  knew  not  and  cared  not. 

"  You  did  not  talk  much  after  all,"  remarked  Gillette, 
as  he  came  to  where  we  were  standing,  speechless,  in 
the  reception-room." 

"No.  It  is  such  bad  form,  you  know,"  answered 
Isabel  lightly,  "  to  engage  in  absorbing  conversation 
at  meals." 

I  was  so  ashamed  of  the  injury  I  was  planning  to  do 
my  friend  that  I  could  not  look  him  in  the  face. 

"  It  is  a  lovely  moonlight  night,"  continued  Gillette. 
'^  Why  don't  you  step  out  upon  the  piazza  and  have  it 
out  % " 

^'  Since  you  suggest  it,"  I  muttered  between  my  teeth. 

"  Yes,  that  will  be  better,"  she  smiled  gaily,  as  she 
rested  her  hand  on  my  arm.  As  we  crossed  the  room 
I  tried  to  think.  What  was  I  doing?  Keviving  an 
old  love  affair  with  my  friend's  wife  ?  How  then 
would  it  end  ?  How  but  in  misery  to  him  and  to 
Kate?  Yet,  if  I  loved  Isabel  and  she  loved  me,  better 
than  we  could  either  of  us  love  any  other  human  be- 
ing, it  was  only  right  we  should  be  brought  together, 
whoever  else  suffered.  But  then,  I  asked  myself,  was 
this  indeed  love,  which  burned  my  whole  nature  until 
my  head  swam  and  my  brain  refused  to  do  any  thing 
but  dream  ?  Or  was  it  mere  animal  passion,  mastering 
to  be  sure,  such  as  few  women  can  excite,  but  only 
physical  in  its  nature,  in  its  life,  in  its  death  ?  Mere  pas- 
sion is  fleshly  and  dies.  It  is  mortal,  while  love  is  of 
the  spirit  also,  the  attraction  of  harmonious  souls  to 
each  other,  and  is  eternal  as  is  the  spirit. 

But  it  was  as  if  my  destiny  compelled  me  onward, 
and  left  me  no  choice.     Memories  of  the  purer  joys  1 


142  An  Ejoperiment  in  Marriage, 

had  known  with  Kate  flitted  across  my  mind,  pictures 
of  her  anxious,  despairing  face  were  painted  by  my  bet- 
ter spirit  upon  the  tablets  of  my  fancy,  but  the  touch  of 
this  woman's  burning  hand  upon  my  arm,  her  thrilhng, 
perfumed  breath  upon  my  face,  made  me  incapable  of 
resistance  to  her  influence.  1  led  her  apart  from  the 
others,  to  a  spot  secluded  by  a  trellis,  where  indeed 
Kate  and  I  had  often  come  for  something  between 
solitude  and  society.  I  seated  Isabel  here  on  the  very 
spot  where  Kate  had  sat,  and  seated  myself  by  her 
side. 

For  a  moment  we  looked  into  each  other's  eyes,  and 
such  perfect  sensual  beauty  I  had  never  seen.  The 
languorous  softness  of  her  face,  the  drooping  bow  of  her 
red  lips,  parting  a  little,  denoted  the  very  incarnation 
of  physical  passion.  Then,  as  it  seemed,  unconsciously, 
our  faces  drew  nearer,  until  her  breath  mingled  with 
mine,  and  her  eyes  sliot  their  liquid  fire  into  mine, 
ahuost  touching  them.  All  the  world  beside  passed 
from  my  mind.  It  was  as  if  I  were  dying.  Then  our 
lips  met  and  I  lived  again  in  a  bliss  which  was  agony. 
I  put  my  arm  about  her,  and  drew  her  to  my  bosom, 
and  kissed  her  as  she  palpitated  against  my  heart,  until 
my  whole  being  was  intoxicated  with  hers. 

Then  came  a  sound  of  rustling  skirts,  but  neither  of 
us  heard  it  j  then  a  footstep  on  the  walk  outside,  but  it 
did  not  arouse  us.  Our  senses  were  drugged  with  bliss. 
Then  there  came  a  voice,  familiar,  but  almost  ks  from 
another  world  ;  it  pierced  my  heart  like  a  dagger. 

"  Harry,"  it  said,  "  Harry,  this  sight  is  killing  me." 

We  sprang  from  each  other's  arms,  as  if  impelled 
by  a  shock  of  electricity.  Isabel  tried  to  draw  back  to 
some  kindly  sheltering  shadow.  I  leaped  to  my  feet, 
now  wide  awake  to  every  thing.  It  was  my  wife  who 
stood  before  us,  and  the  look  of  agony  on  her  face  was 
more  than  I  could  bear. 

"  Kate,"  I  cried,  "  I  have  been  mad.  I  have  been 
mad.     I  love  you  and  will  always  love  you."     And  in 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  143 

the  presence  of  the  very  woman  who  had  so  deeply 
infatuated  me,  I  tried  to  take  my  wife's  hand.  "  For- 
give me,  Kate." 

But  she  drew  back  as  if  a  wasp  had*  stung  her  where 
ni}^  hand  touched  hers. 

"  Forgive  you  \  There  is  nothing  to  forgive.  You 
are  not  to  blame  simjDly  because  you  do  not  love  me." 

"But  listen  to  me.  I  do  love  you.  1  was  beside 
myself  to-night." 

"I  have  seen  you  changing,"  she  said  with  des- 
perate calmness.  "  I  warned  3'ou  of  it  before  we  came 
here  this  evening.  I  knew  then  that  you  were  no 
longer  my  lover.  Love  me,  indeed !  If  you  did  such, 
madness  as  this  should  be  for  my  kisses,  not  for  hers." 
And  she  turned  to  cast  a  look  of  scorn  and  hite  at  the 
beautiful  woman  who  had  made  me  forget  every  thing 
but  herself.  The  place  where  Isabel  had  sat  was 
vacant.     She  had  escaped  from  the  painful  scene. 

"  Sit  down,"  I  urged,  "  and  let  us  talk  a  few  minutes. 
I  promise  you  by  all  that  is  holy " 

"  What  use  to  promise  ?  "  she  asked,  wearily. 

"Sit  here,  Kate,"  I  persisted.  But  she  suddenly 
flamed  out  for  the  first  time. 

"  Dare  you  place  me  where  that  woman  just  sat  ? 
N^ow  I  am  sure  you  never  loved  me."  Then  she 
turned  on  her  heel,  "I  am  going  home.     Good-bye." 

I  stepped  to  her  side.  "  I  will  go  now,  too,"  I  said. 
But  once  more  she  turned  a  stern  face  toward  me. 

"  Never  again,"  she  exclaimed.  "  Did  you  for  a 
moment  suppose  I  could  ever  live  with  you  after  this  ?  " 

The  woman  who  had  so  captivated  me  a  few  mo- 
ments before  was  entirely  forgotten  now.  The  fever 
she  had  stirred  in  my  blood  was  cooled.  I  thought 
only  of  what  I  was  about  to  lose.  Kate  once  more 
seemed  as  lovely  as  when  I  had  first  offered  her  rny 
heart.  As  the  sun  sometimes  sends  a  brilliant  gleam 
of  light  and  radiance  from  behind  a  cloud,  just  as  he 
sinks  below  the  horizon,  so  sometimes  love  gives  forth 


i  144  An  Exjyeriment  in  Marriage. 

all  its  forgotten  splendors,  for  the  moment  before  it 
goes  out  forever. 

"  Kate,"  I  cried,   "  it  would  kill  me  to  lose  jou." 

But  she  shook  her  head.  "  You  do  not  know  your- 
self as  I  know  you.  To-morrow  I  will  apply  for  a 
divorce,  and  you  will  be  free  to  seek  once  more  for  the 
woman  —  she  must  live  somewhere  —  whom  you  can 
truly  and  wholly  love." 

"  But  you  are  that  woman,"  I  said. 

She  let  me  take  her  hand,  but  I  felt,  in  gathering 
despair,  that  it  was  merely  in  token  of  parting.  She 
then  spoke  more  softly.  "  No,  you  had  ceased  to  love 
me  before  you  again  met  this  Isabel  and  I  was  forced 
to  endure  to-night's  shame.  But  you  will  iind  some 
one  who  will  be  all  in  all  to  3^ou  ;  that  will  be  love  in- 
deed. But  it  is  not  this  woman ;  do  not  believe  it  for 
an  instant.  I  cannot  bear  that  you  should  go  down  to 
her  level.     But  good-bye  ?  " 

She  released  my  hand  and  drew  a  step  or  two  away. 
Then  suddenly  she  turned  and  rushed  up  to  me,  and 
for  the  last  time  twined  her  arms  around  my  neck. 

"  No,  do  not  kiss  me,  I  could  not  bear  it  after  what 
I  saw.  This  must  be  our  good-bye.  Yon  were  so 
dear  to  me,  Harry,     Good-bye,"     And  she  was  gone. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  next  six  months  was  a  most  wretched  period  for 
me.  I  had  taken  a  room  at  phalanstery  No.  1,  and 
my  friend  Ward  was  so  much  pleased  at  my  compan- 
ionship, that  he  failed  to  show  any  sort  of  sympathy 
for  me  in  my  bereavement.  But  during  tlios(3  months 
I  could  hav^e  been  of  little  more  satisfaction  to  him 
than  a  lay  figure. 

Ward,  as  the  reader  has  seen,  had  not  by  any  means 
been  the  convert  to  the  institutions  of  Grape  Yahey 
that  I  was.  He  approved  the  economical  relations  es- 
tablished here.  He  gave  in  his  adhesion  to  the  prin- 
ciples which  in  practice  made  all  men  and  women  work, 
and  gave  them  all  equal  shares  in  the  fruits  of  labor. 
He  was  even  enthusiastic  over  the  short  hours  of  labor, 
which  left  the  afternoons  free  for  leisure  or  study ;  and 
admitted  that  the  stimulating  social  Hfe  here  was  the 
most  delightful  he  had  ever  imagined  possible,  and,  as  a 
means  to  the  culture  of  all  the  intellectual  and  moral 
qualities,  was  perfection  itself.  He  had  nothing  but 
praise,  either,  for  the  spirit  of  brotherly  love  which 
seemed  to  tind  its  full  scope  here,  driving  out  the 
selfishness,  with  its  attendant  miseries,  induced  by  the 
competitive  system  on  which  outside  civilization  is 
based. 

But  the  scheme  of  marriage  and  divorce  as  carried 
into  practice  here  did  not  please  him  at  all.  The 
subject  had  been  too  delicate  a  one  for  him  to  discuss 
with  me  while  I  was  married,  but  now  that  I  was 
divorced,  and  plunged  into  bitterness  and  general  dis- 
pleasure with  the  institution  from  which  1  thought  I 
19 


146  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

had  so  unfairly  suffered,  Ward  felt  free  to  say  any 
thing  he  chose  concerning  the  marriage  relations  of 
Grape  Valley,  and  I  was  not  unwilling  to  listen. 

As  fur  Mrs.  Gillette,  whose  advent  had  been  the 
signal  for  my  discomtiture,  I  fairly  hated  her,  and  I 
think  the  feeling  was  reciprocated,  for  it  is  usually  safe 
to  conclude  that  if  one  feels  a  strong  repugnance  to 
any  particular  persou,  the  feeling  is  returned  in  degree. 
From  absorbing  infatuation  to  intense  dislike  seems  hke 
a  very  long  step,  but  in  fact  it  is  a  most  natural  transi- 
tion. We  dislike  a  woman  because  she  is  very  differ- 
ent from  others  of  her  sex.  She  affects  our  sensibili- 
ties very  keenly.  We  are  far  more  likely  to  be  in- 
fatuated* with  just  such  a  person  than  any  other.  We 
hate  her  or  we  are  bewitched  by  her,  as  the  case  may 
be.  Very  often  we  first  are  bewitched  by  her  and  then 
hate  her,  and  as  often  we  first  hate  and  then  are  be- 
witched by  her.  But  the  infatuation  was  over,  the 
charm  was  forever  broken,  and  if  Isabelle  Gillette  and 
I  had  been  cast  on  a  lonely  island  together,  I  could 
never  have  felt  toward  her  again  as  I  did  that  terrible 
night  when  I  lost  Kate.  So  much  for  the  difference 
between  infatuation  and  love.  But  Ward,  to  whom  I 
had  told  the  whole  affair,  thought  differently. 

"  You  apparently  must  either  hate  or  go  crazy  over 
this  woman  ;  one  state  indicates  the  imminence  of  the 
other.  Only  when  you  become  indifferent  to  her  shall 
I  consider  you  safe." 

This  is  one  of  the  instances  where  my  friend  Ward 
has  been  mistaken.  But  my  unhappiness  over  the  loss 
of  Kate  continued  unabated.  To  see  her  familiar  form 
across  the  reception-room,  and  give  a  sudden  start  to 
go  to  her,  and  then  to  remember  that  she  was  mine  no 
'more,  was  like  a  twinge  of  physical  pain  to  me.  To 
hear  her  voice  in  conversation  with  others,  and  feel 
that  I  should  never  listen  to  its  gentler  accents  in 
words  of  endearment  again,  intensified  my  melancholy 
almost  to  the  point  of  despair.    But  one  day  I  met  her 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  147 

face  to  face,  on  one  of  tlie  city  streets,  and  she  ex- 
tended her  hand  to  me  as  sweetly  as  if  we  were  brother 
and  sister.  Her  voice  was  cahn,  and  to  my  astonish- 
ment I  found  mine  became  so. 

"We  need  not  cease  to  care  for  each  other,"  she 
said  sweetly,  "  merely  because  we  do  not  love  each 
other." 

"  May  I  feel  that  yon  always  think  kindly  of  me?  "  I 
asked,  eagerly. 

^'  Yes, "and  wish  yon  the  best  of  fate."  And  so  we 
parted,  and  I  did  not  feel  as  inconsolable  afterward.  It 
seemed  clear  enough  that  Kate  was  not  a  martyr,  so  I 
had  nothing  to  reproach  myself  with  in  that  respect. 
Then  I  gradually  took  more  interest  in  the  marvelously 
active  social  life  of  the  valley  and  grew  to  be  more  hke 
myself  again. 

*^One  evening  as  Ward  and  I  stepped  into  the  phalan- 
stery hall  after  dinner,  Gillette  joined  us  and  said: 

"  It  is  a  social  evening  and  we  can  have  an  old- 
fashioned  talk." 

"  Isti't  Mrs.  Gillette  here  ? "  inquired  Ward,  with  his 
ever  present  courtliness. 

I  thought  a  peculiar  expression  passed  over  Gillette's 
face.  Could  it  be  his  dream  of  bhss  was  so  soon  over? 
How  indeed  could  a  woman  who  had  so  much  to  give 
to  others  make  her  husband  happy  ? 

*'0h,  yes,  she  is  here.  She  is  entertaining  Harve}', 
the  mining  expert;  yon  remember  him."  Then  he 
added  plainly  willing  to  change  the  subject :  "  You 
are  not  looking  as  well  as  usual,  Yinton." 

"  I  have  been  a  good  deal  out  of  temper.  Kate's 
leaving  me  was  a  terrible  blow."  I  was  thankful  Gil- 
lette did  not  know  the  occasion  of  the  rupture  between 
my  wife  and  me. 

"  I  tell  him,"  said  Ward,  "that  the  peculiar  institu- 
tion of  Grape  Yalley  is  to  blame  for  his  sufferings. 
The  only  way  to  keep  a  man  and  woman  together  is  to 
tie  them." 


148  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

"That  would  be  bondage  in  the  full  sense  of  the 
word,"  exclaimed  Gillette,  "  bondage  of  mind,  body 
and  soul,  brutalizing  to  the  body,  degrading  to  the  soul, 
and  stunting  to  the  mind.  It  is  only  when  both  man 
and  woman  love  to  the  full  capacity  of  their  natures 
that  they  should  live  together.  Such  love  as  that  should 
be  the  only  bond." 

"  But  all  men  and  women  are  not  capable  of  sustained 
feeling,"  said  I.  "Some  of  us  can  be  very  intensely 
affected  for  a  time,  and  then  become  almost  indifferent." 

"  That  is,"  said  Ward,  "they  can  be  infatuated  with 
one  woman  to-day,  and  with  another  to-morrow.  Such 
men  and  women  will  spoil  the  workings  of  your  insti- 
tution." 

Suddenly  a  light  feminine  voice  broke  into  our  con- 
versation. 

"  Who  is  it  speaks  of  spoiling  our  institution  ?  Avaunt, 
profane  one." 

Turning,  1  saw  a  woman  of  perhaps  thirty,  with  a 
high  broad  forehead,  exquisitely  chiseled  features,  and 
wonderful!}^  expressive  eyes.  Her  smile  was  so  full  of 
brightness  that  I  was  attracted  to  her  at  once.  Mr. 
Gillette  introduced  me  to  her  as  Miss  Barden.  Ward 
appeared  to  be  already  an  acquaintance,  for  he  retorted: 

"  I  am  the  profane  one.  I  was  saying  that  there  are 
many  men  and  women  unfitted  for  lasting  love." 

"Like  yourself,  Miss  Barden,"  laughed  Gillette, 
giving  her  a  significant  look. 

"  Perhaps  you  mistake  me,"  she  answered.  "  The 
fault  may  be  with  the  manhood  of  Grape  Yalley, 
unable  to  supply  me  with  a  counterpart." 

"  Describe  to  me  your  ideal,"  said  Gillette,  "  and  I 
will  put  the  whole  world  under  contribution.  It  would 
be  payment  sufficient  for  all  my  trouble  to  see  you  once 
in  love.  Experience  shows  it  is  women  of  the  intel- 
lectual type  who  make  the  most  perfect  lovers.  De- 
scribe now  the  man  3^ou  conld  adore." 

"How  can  I?"  asked   Miss  Barden,  with   a  cool 


All  Experiment  in  Marriage.  149 

smile.  "  It  is  not  given  to  us  mortals  to  know  our- 
selves. The  Socratic  injunction  sounded  like  very 
wise  advice,  but  like  most  sucli,  is  impracticable.  I 
can  only  tell  whether  any  particular  man  is  my  coun- 
terpart when  I  meet  him." 

"  Then,  you  are  not  an  infidel  as  to  the  possibility 
of  true  love  ?  "  I  asked. 

''  Far  from  it.  But  I  think,  too,  that  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  love  founded  on  the  condition  of  natures 
at  certain  periods  which  they  outgrow  as  they  outgrow 
those  conditions.  Hence,  true  love  is  not  always  last- 
ing. There  are  numerous  imitations  of  pure  love, 
however,  most  deceptive  of  all  of  which  is  tiie  excite- 
ment a  novel  intimacy  always  induces.  Most  of  the 
mistaken  marriages  in  Christendom  are  founded  on 
this  delusion,  which,  of  course,  disappears  as  the  inti- 
macy becomes  an  old  story." 

"You  must  believe,  then,"  I  said,  "that  the  social 
freedom  of  Grape  Yalley  tends  to  reduce  the  frequency 
of  mistaken  marriages." 

Her  face  lighted  up  with  appreciation,  and  she 
turned  for  an  instant  to  Gillette.  "  Why  haven't  you 
introduced  Mr.  Yinton  to  me  before  ?  He  is  worth 
talking  to." 

"  Perhaps  I  need  not  scour  the  world  for  you  after 
all?"  suggested  Gillette,  maliciously,  and  then  he 
added  :  "  Come,  Ward,  these  four-handed  conversa- 
tions are  somewhat  difficult.  Suppose  you  and  I  find 
some  place  where  we  can  have  it  all  our  own  way." 

No  sooner  were  Miss  Barden  and  I  left  together 
than  she  gave  me  an  arch  glance.  "  If  you  are  afraid 
of  me  you  may  go,  too." 

"I  fear  nothing  in  petticoats,"  I  asserted  boldly. 
"  But  let  us  take  seats  in  the  window  while  you  answer 
me. 

We  found  two  chairs  which  overlooked  the  well- 
lighted  street  below.  We  could  see  in  the  distance 
Bapid  river  winding  its  shining  length  in  the  moon- 


150  Aji  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

light ;  while  if  we  chose  to  look  within,  there  were 
hundreds  of  beautiful  women  and  attractive  men  with 
faces  which  expressed  every  grade  of  satisfaction,  in- 
terest and  delight.  Compared  with  any  social  gather- 
ing I  had  ever  seen  in  the  outside  world,  it  was  as 
light  to  darkness.  I  have  met  friends  and  intimates, 
with  whom  I  bad  no  sense  of  restraint,  whose  conver- 
sation was  as  free  and  stimulating  as  that  which  gen- 
erally prevailed  here.  Here  all  were  friends  and  inti- 
mates, so  there  was  a  total  absence  of  the  restraint 
which  destroys  the  meaning,  the  pleasure  and  tbe  piotit 
of  society.  Woman  was  really  emancipated  here  in 
mind  and  soul,  as  well  as  in  her  physical  relations. 
She  was  no  longer  a  constraint  upon  man,  but  a  stimu- 
lus to  constant  intellectual  and  spiritual  excitement. 
The  most  brilliant  salons  in  the  history  of  the  world 
have  been  those  of  women  who  had  emancipated  them- 
selves from  the  restraints  of  tradition  and  at  the  same 
time  from  those  of  good  morals.  Here  all  were  eman- 
cipated, the  married  as  well  as  the  unmarried,  but  the 
moral  nature  was  never  in  a  higher  state  of  refinement. 
All  wanted  the  best  that  others  had  to  give,  and  sought 
it  without  regard  to  existing  marriage  relations.  If  a 
love  fuller  and  more  satisfying  than  a  marriage  yielded 
was  awakened,  so  much  the  better,  for  that  was  pro- 
gress. No  ill  consecpiences,  according  to  the  theories 
of  this  community,  could  result  irom  the  most  unre- 
stricted social  relations.  If  husband  and  wife  were 
well  mated  their  married  harmony  would  not  be  dis- 
turbed; if  not,  the  sooner  each  met  some  one  who  could 
inspire  a  complete  love  the  better.  All  this  wonder- 
ful liberty  of  the  sexes  in  their  relations  with  each 
other  put  the  men  and  women  always  on  their  mettle. 
The  interchange  of  wit  and  wisdom,  of  repartee  and 
epigram,  was  constant,  and  the  faces  in  the  company 
before  me  were  alert  and  flushed  as  if  with  champagne. 
After  a  moment's  ])ause  Miss  Earden  said  : 
"  The  idea  you  have  just  suggested  interests  me.  In 


An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage.  161 

the  outside  world  so  many  artificial  restraints  are 
placed  on  the  acquaintance  of  the  sexes,  that  intimacy 
of  any  kind  between  a  man  and  woman,  however  nn- 
snited  for  each  other,  is  likely  to  cause  an  excitement 
which  is  mistaken  for  love.  Hence  rich  heiresses 
elope  with  their  father's  coachmen,  and  heads  of  fam- 
ilies marry  their  servant  girls.  If  a  man  and  woman 
are  thrown  together  on  an  intimate  relation  for  a  con- 
siderable length  of  time,  it  is  almost  a  foregone  con- 
clusion that  they  fall  in  love,  as  they  call  it,  with  each 
other,  and  marry  if  they  can;  if  not,  disgrace  them- 
selves. 

"  If,  on  the  other  hand,"  I  continued,  "  the  sexes 
freely  meet  and  become  famiharized,  this  mistake  of  a 
novel  intimacy  for  love  would  not  occur.  Intimacy 
would  cease  to  be  novel.  Men  would  not  be  completely 
bewitched  when  a  glimpse  of  peculiarly  feminine 
qualities  was  revealed  to  them.  Women  would  not 
lose  their  heads  when  they  saw  in  this  or  that  man  the 
strength  or  energy  of  our  sex.  To  look  into  each 
other's  eyes  without  pal23itation  of  the  heart,  to  touch 
each  other's  hands  without  a  tumult  of  feeling,  would 
be  the  result  for  both  sexes  except  in  cases  of  true  love. 
Your  freedom  of  restraint  and  untrarameled  relations 
of  the  sexes  will  clarify  the  air  in  time,  so  that  a  man 
and  woman  will  not  be  likely  to  think  they  fall  in  love 
unless  they  have  a  peculiar  fitness  for  each  other." 

"  There  is  another  idea  that  occurs  to  me."  As  she 
turned  her  face  toward  me  it  was  fairly  illumined  with 
intelligence  and  vivacity.  "  In  the  old  civilization  a 
man  is  expected  to  find  everything  in  his  wife,  to  see, 
or  at  least  to  enjoy  no  charms  of  manner,  no  suggestive- 
ness  of  thought  in  other  women.  The  result  is  he  is 
either  deprived  of  social  delights  and  educating  in- 
fluences, or  his  wife  considers  herself  abused  and 
society  looks  on  her  as  deserted.  But  if  a  husband  or 
wife  in  the  outside  world  had  free  social  intercouse  with 
those  of  the  opposite  sex,  were  permitted  aud  en- 


152  An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage, 

conraged  to  make  the  most  of  every  attractive  and  in- 
teresting personality,  love  might  invade  hearts  that 
hitherto  had  not  known  it.  And  the  old  civilization 
makes  no  provision  for  such  cases.  This  is  another 
respect  in  which  Grape  Yalley  presents  the  ideal  civili- 
zation. Here  we  all  associate  with  whom  we  like, 
gather  sweetness  from  every  flower,  broaden  every 
faculty  of  our  mind,  as  well  as  expand  the  sympathies, 
which  are  the  best  proofs  of  immortahty,  and  by  culti- 
vating which  we  best  cultivate  the  soul  and  strengthen 
its  divine  attributes." 

I  was  fairly  carried  away  by  the  eloquence  of  my  new 
acquaintance.  I  had  not  met  a  woman  before  with 
such  perceptive  and  analytical  powers.  She  paused  for 
me  to  speak,  but  I  preferred  to  listen. 

She  resumed  after  a  moment.  "  That  you  love  one 
woman  is  no  reason  why  she  should  be  required  to 
please  your  every  taste,  satisfy  your  every  demand. 
Every  human  being  is  a  specialist.  Some  quality,  some 
attribute,  some  insight,  is  more  developed  in  some  one 
of  us  than  in  any  other.  Each  person  has  some  ex- 
perience, has  learned  some  lesson  out  of  life  which 
others  do  not  know.  From  acquaintance  and  intel- 
lectual intimacy  with  men  other  men  have  always 
learned  most  that  they  know,  acquired  the  chief  part 
of  their  education.  Women  have  their  exclusive 
personal  experiences  too,  their  intuitive  powers,  their 
sexual  clairvoyance,  their  peculiar  religious  and  sympa- 
thetic inspirations.  Men  should  be  as  free  to  exciiange 
their  intellectual  and  spiritual  treasures  with  women  as 
with  each  otlier.  Thus  only  can  women  share  in  the 
strength  of  mind,  breadth  of  generalization,  the  fullness 
of  knowledge  of  the  sterner  sex,  and  thus  only  men 
become  more  the  equals  of  Avomen  in  the  delicacy  of 
understanding,  the  quickness  of  perception,  and  the 
gentleness  of  heart  peculiarly  feminine." 

"  That  would  be  a  glorious  consummation,  indeed,"  I 
said.     "  But  can  one  man  and  woman  love  each  other 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  153 

as  completely  where  they  liave  so  much  to  give  and  to 
take  from  others?" 

"  Why  not!  "  she  demanded.  "  Does  a  man  in  tlie 
old  world  love  his  wife  less  because  he  has  free  inter- 
c  )nrse  with  other  men  ?  No  more  would  the  husband 
of  Grape  Valley  be  incapable  of  perfect  lover  relations 
with  his  wife  because  he  enjoyed  and  profited  by  what 
cultivation  of  mind  and  soul  other  women  in  the  world 
could  give  him.  It  might  rather  be  expected  that,  by 
what  he  could  learn  from  these  other  women,  he  might 
be  brought  into  a  still  more  harmonious  relation  with 
his  wife.  She  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the  only  woman  in  the 
world  he  can  love.  If  she  is  not  that  woman  he  should 
lose  no  time  in  finding  the  one  who  is,  and  in  releasing 
the  mistaken  object  of  his  first  choice  to  accomplish  her 
own  destiny.  But  it  does  not  follow  that  she  should 
be  the  only  woman  to  him  in  the  world  simply  because 
she  is  the  only  woman  he  can  love." 

I  hesitated  a  moment  and  then  taking  courage  from 
her  remarkable  frankness,  I  asked : 

"  What  is  the  difference  between  the  interest  which 
a  man  may  take  in  other  women  without  love,  and  the 
feelincr  you  call  love  which  he  should  have  for  his 
wife's" 

Miss  Bard  en  laughed  somewhat  oddly  and  seemed 
at  a  loss  what  reply  to  make.  I  was  afraid  I  had 
pressed  her  too  far.  But  while  I  was  meditating  some 
excuse  for  my  question,  she  began  to  speak. 

"  Now  yoii  force  me  to  make  an  honest  but  awkward 
confession.  I  know  nothing  of  this  love  from  expe- 
rience. I  was  never  in  love.  I  have  met  many  men 
who  interested  me  and  entertained  me,  many  whom 
I  wanted  to  see  again,  as  you  for  instance,  but  all  I 
know  of  love  is  through  my  study  of  others  and  of  my 
imagination.  If  an  opinion  founded  on  such  poor  data 
is  good  for  any  thing  you  are  welcome  to  it." 

'^Perhaps,"  I  answered,  pleased  at  what  I  thought 
an  opportunity  to  make  a  good  point,  ''  perhaps  your 
20 


154  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

definition  is  likely  to  be  broader  and  less  biased  than 
if  offered  by  a  person  who  thinks  he  has  experienced 
to  the  full  the  grand  passion.  Definitions  may  be 
offered  by  those  who  are  in  error  in  supposing  they 
were  ever  in  love,  and  hence  define  the  false  for  the 
true,  the  delusion  for  love  itself  ;  or  even  if  the  person 
has  known,  in  his  own  experience,  true  love,  he  may  be 
all  the  more  likely  to  describe  accidents  as  essentials, 
to  color  his  definition  with  the  individuality  of  that 
experience." 

"  You  are  very  ingenious,"  she  said,  giving  me  a 
very  appreciative  look.  "  I  will  take  courage  and  offer 
my  definition  since  you  think  it  is  quite  as  likely  to 
be  near  the  truth  as  those  of  men  and  women  who 
boast  of  having  run  the  whole  gamut  of  passion.  A 
man  loves  a  woman  and  is  a  fit  husband  for  her,  if 
their  natures,  physical,  intellectual  and  spiritual,  are 
suited  to  each  other.  They  should  mutually  stimulate 
each  other  in  every  direction,  mutually  soothe  each 
other,  mutually  satisfy  each  other.  The  stimulus  each 
supplies  to  the  other  keeps  every  facult}'  and  percep- 
tion alive  and  progressive,  and  is  the  strongest  force 
for  improvement  to  which  a  human  being  can  be  sub- 
jected. The  world  at  large,  through  its  imperfect 
social  institutions,  has  made  very  little  of  this  force  for 
good.  It  is  almost  accidental  when  the  full  relation 
of  lovers  exists  between  married  people  in  civilized 
countries.  Asa  possible  force  for  mischief,  for  out- 
break of  violence,  it  is  sufficiently  recognized.  The 
sexual  influence  is  the  greatest  enginery  for  the  de- 
velopment of  our  whole  natures  which  this  world  sup- 
plies. Our  bodies,  minds,  and  souls,  are  educated  and 
uplifted,  perfected  and  purified  by  true  love.  If  sexual 
selection  is  rightly  practiced,  each  man  and  woman 
will  marry  where  the  stimulus  most  adapted  for  the 
development  of  the  triple  nature  is  best  supplied." 

As  she  finished  speaking  she  rose  to  her  feet.  "  I 
must  leave  you  now,     I  was  to  meet  a  friend  to-night 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  155 

for  an  historical  lesson.  Yon  have  made  me  very  late." 
Then  she  gave  me  her  brilliant  smile,  a  sort  of  greeting 
more  vivid  than  words.  "  JSliall  you  be  here  to-morrow 
night  ? " 

"Yes,"  I  answered  eagerly,  "but  it  is  theatrical 
night,  and  we  cannot  talk.  Can't  I  come  to  see  you 
iu'the  afternoon  ?  " 

"  Why,  yes,  if  you  do  not  think  I  am  talked  out.  I 
feel  something  as  an  exhausted  reservoir  looks."  And 
she  moved  a  step  or  two  away. 

"A  reservoir  often  fills  up  over  night,  you  know,"  I 
threw  after  her,  and  then  she  left  tlie  room. 

The  foundations  of  my  intellectual  life  had  been 
stirred,  as  never  before,  and  by  a  woman.  I  was  glad 
to  go  to  my  room,  and  locking  the  door,  to  abandon 
myself  to  reverie.  _, 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

I  do  not  think,  however,  that  I  had  been  a  half  honi 
alone,  when  a  knock  came  at  the  door,  and,  as  with 
considerable  reluctance  I  opened  it,  Mr.  Harvey,  the 
mining  expert,  entered. 

"  1  want  a  little  talk  with  you,"  he  said.  "Lock  the 
door  so  we  shall  not  be  interrupted,  please.  Gillette 
might  blunder  in  any  minute." 

I  locked  the  door  not  without  some  manifest  surprise. 
"  And  if  he  did  come  in,  wouldn't  he  be  a  desirable  ad- 
dition?" 

"l!sot  to-night,"  answered  Harvey,  seating  himself, 
"for  it  is  about  Mrs.  Gillette  I  want  to  talk.'' 

I  was  fairly  amazed.     "  About  Mrs.  Gillette  ? " 

"  Yes,  I  am  infatuated  with  her.  I  am  as  crazy  over 
her  as  a  mad  inventor  over  perpetual  motion.  Why, 
Yinton,  when  I  think  of  her  going  home  with  Gillette 
as  her  husband,  it  makes  me  quite  frantic.  Wild  ideas 
of  attacking  him  and  taking  his  wife  away  this  very 
night,  overwhelm  me." 

"Beware  of  the  woman,"  I  exclaimed,  startled  and 
humiliated  at  the  thought  that  she,  who  took  such  pains 
to  charm  my  senses  so  recently,  should  already  have  set 
her  snares  for  another  man. 

"  Why  do  you  tell  me  to  beware  of  her  ?  "  he  de- 
manded, angrily.  "  If  she  loves  me  better  than  her 
husband,  is  there  any  reason  why  I  should  not  marry 
her  ? ''  Then  doubtless  remembering  that  he  had 
opened  the  subject  to  me,  not  I  to  him,  he  saw  that  too 
much  sensitiveness  on  his  part  was  absurd.  So  he  mol- 
lified a  little. 


A71  Experime7it  m  Marriage,  157 

"  She  has  spoken  of  you,  and  somewhat  unpleasantly 
by  the  way.  So  I  thought,  perhaps,  you  could  give  me 
some  advice.  I  do  not  feel,  myself,  that  her  influence 
over  me  is  good.  Perhaps  I  ought  to  shun  it  if  I  have 
the  strength." 

"  Oh  certainly  you  ought,"  I  answered,  determined 
to  do  my  duty  by  Harvey,  if  I  could  without  reveal- 
ing too  much  of  my  recent  experience  with  her.  ''It 
is  not  true  love  you  feel  for  her  or  that  she  feels  for 
you.  She  is  too  sensual  in  her  nature  to  be  capable  of 
any  passion  save  of  the  senses.  She  would  enslave  you 
to-day,  and  be  enslaved  herself,  and  to-morrow  or  next 
week  or  next  month,  perhaps,  be  as  ready  for  a  new 
lover  or  husband  as  she  was  for  you.  Such  women  as 
she  would,  I  believe,  be  impossible  after  a  few  genera- 
tions in  Grape  Valley.  They  are  the  offspring  of 
those  relations  of  the  sexes  in  civilization  which  were 
so  distorted  that  there  followed  the  most  monstrous 
perversions  of  instincts.  Men  most  commonly  ex- 
hibit these  perversions,  which  are  often  merely  overde- 
velopment of  the  purely  physical  aspect  of  sex.  The 
more  brutal  an  indulgence,  the  more  coarse  its  sur- 
roundings and  associations,  the  more  degrading  its  sug- 
gestions, the  better  satisfied  are  such  perverted  men  in 
their  relations  with  women.  Sometimes  decent  and  ac- 
complished gentlemen  in  other  directions,  they  are 
simply  beasts  and  glory  in  their  degradation,  in  their 
sexual  relations.  Women  are  naturally  more  fitted  for 
the  true  functions  of  love  than  man;  the  physical  rela- 
tion is  seldom  foremost  in  their  minds,  very  often 
hardly  recognized  until  the  mental  and  spiritual 
harmonies  are  fully  established.  When  we  find  a  sen- 
sual woman,  however,  she  is  capable  of  spreading  more 
poison  through  the  social  State  than  a  dozen  preachers 
of  anarchy  and  assassination.  Such  women  have  done 
much  to  destroy  faith  in  the  reality  of  the  complete 
triple  attraction  of  the  sexes  which  is  love,  to  make 
beasts  of  all  who  come  beneath  their  infiuence,  and  to 


158  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

make  gross  all  who  know  of  their  history.  They  are 
instances  of  atavism,  retrogression  toward  a  former 
type,  toward  the  brute  without  intellect  or  sonl  and 
which  only  responds  to  physical  instinct." 

"But  how  did  such  a  retined  man  as  Gillette  come 
to  marry  her?"  demanded  Harvey,  apparently  amazed 
and  shocked  at  what  I  said. 

"  He  married  her  for  the  same  reason  that  you  want 
to  marry  her,  and  will  do  so  nnless  what  1  say  C)pens 
your  eyes.  Yon  are  maddened  by  the  physical  attrac- 
tion which  she  puts  forth  with  a  boldness  and  abandon 
well  nigh  irresistible.  The  display  of  sensual  passion 
on  the  part  of  a  woman  is  usually  absolutely  intoxicat- 
ing to  a  man.  This  woman  displays  it  so  alluringly,  so 
seductively,  that  your  senses  are  enthralled  and  your 
judgment  suspended.  Yon  do  not  stop  to  see  that  the 
basis  for  your  attraction  is  absolutely  of  the  flesh,  and, 
liow^ever  rapturous  to-day,  will  to-morrow  turn  to  dust 
and  ashes.  But  the  triumphs  of  such  women  are  only 
limited  by  their  opportunities.  Kings  and  potentate?, 
conquerors  of  kingdoms,  prophets  and  philosoj^lieis 
have  fallen  beneath  the  lightnings  in  their  eyes  since 
history  began  to  keep  its  records.  Perhaps,  after  all, 
they  are  not  wholly  without  use  in  the  world.  They 
help  to  show  at  least  what  love  is  not." 

Harvey  rose  to  liis  feet  and  took  my  hand.  "  I  be- 
lieve you  speak  the  truth,  Yinton,  and  1  thank  you 
from  my  heart  for  3'our  warning.  The  thought  of  her 
tills  me  with  no  good  aspirations,  with  no  exaltation  of 
soul.  It  is  merely  the  apotheosis  of  flesh,  a  profanity 
and  a  mockery.  Good  night.  I  thank  you  for  what 
you  have  done  for  me." 

After  he  went  out  I  dismissed  the  queens  of  sensual 
passion  from  my  mind,  and  went  to  bed  to  dream  of 
Miss  Barden. 

The  next  forenoon,  however,  when  I  entered  my 
editorial  room,  I  found  the  whole  force  in  great  excite- 
ment over  the  announcement  that  Gillette's  wife  had 


A 71  Expei'iment  in  Marriage,  159 

that  morning  filed  ber  notice  of  divorce.  In  a  week 
more  Isabel  was  married  to  Mr.  Harvey,  and  doubtless 
he  confided  to  lier  all  that  I  had  said  about  her  and  her 
kind.  At  any  rate  she  did  not  ever  recognize 
me  again.  But  it  must  have  been  a  secret  humihation 
for  her  to  feel  that,  in  spite  of  herself,  she  irresistibly 
fulfilled  my  prophecy  and  justified  my  description  of 
her  nature  by  procuring  a  divorce  from  Harvey,  in 
turn,  before  six  months  were  gone.  Her  future  history 
is  of  no  particular  importance  to  detail  here,  and  she 
was  not  after  all  a  very  mischievous  element  in  Grape 
Valley  social  life.  The  men  whom  she  beguiled  be- 
came aware  of  their  delusion  in  good  time,  and  were  all 
the  wiser  for  their  lesson.  She  served  as  a  healthy 
corrective  of  sensual  tendencies,  and  if  she  did  not  seek 
for  her  freedom  as  soon  as  the  eyes  of  her  successive 
husbands  were  opened  and  their  lessons  learned,  they 
had,  of  course,  the  blessed  privilege  of  taking  the  initia- 
tive themselves. 

Under  the  old  order  of  society,  the  years  of  Isabel 
Blakesley,  almost  her  months,  could  be  counted  by  the 
number  of  homes  she  destroyed,  of  honored  men  she 
disgraced,  of  careers  she  wrecked  and  victims  she  drove 
to  despair,  crime  and  death.  Gillette  had  certainly 
done  civilization  a  good  turn  in  bringing  the  woman 
here,  where  her  influence  over  no  man's  life  could  be 
any  thing  but  temporary. 

Of  course  I  could  not  for  a  moment  forget  that  Miss 
Earden  had  given  me  the  privilege  of  calling  upon  her, 
but  I  felt  that  I  owed  a  first  duty  to  my  friend  Gil- 
lette, and  finding  that  he  nad  returned  to  his  own  room 
at  our  phalanstery,  I  went  up  to  see  him. 

''Poor  fellow,"  I  bega  grasping  his  hand.  But 
Gillette  apparently  did  not  regard  himself  as  a  proper 
object  of  sympathy. 

"  Congratulate  me  rather,"  he  exclaimed.  "  Why, 
Yinton,  you  cannot  conceive  of  the  mise: ,  that  I  was 
suffering  with  Isabel.     But  since  I  had   brought  her 


160  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

so  far,  I  felt  a  certain  embarrassment  in  divorcing 
her." 

'*  I  have  a  confession  to  make,"  I  began  with  con- 
siderable embarrassment  as  I  seated  mjself.  ''  The 
first  evening  I  met  her  here  I  was  completely  enslaved. 
She  was  an  old  sweetheart  of  mine,  the  woman  I  told 
yon  about  that  night  on  the  Brooklyn  bridge,  you  will 
remember.  It  was  she  who  threw  me  over  for  a  rich 
husband.  I  was  in  despair  at  the  idea  of  taking  your 
wife  from  you,  even  at  the  moment  when  I  was  most 
infatuated  with  her.  But  I  was  saved  only  by  Kate. 
It  cost  me  my  wife,  so  I  received  my  punishment." 

"  You  surprise  me  ;  I  understand  now  why  it  was  that 
she  was  so  bitter  against  you  after  that  first  night. 
When  I  presented  you  to  her  I  thought  she  showed  an 
interest  somewhat  unbecoming  in  so  recent  a  bride. 
But  later  in  the  evening  she  spoke  of  you  very  disdain- 
fully. Even  your  features,  which  I  know  you  regard, 
not  inexcusably,  with  some  complacency,  she  criticised. 
Your  figure,  too,  was  too  slight,  or  too  tall,  I  forget 
which,  now.  As  for  your  manner,  it  was  too  assured, 
insolent  she  thought.  In  vain  I  tried  to  defend  you, 
Vinton,  but  I  assure  you  I  did  try.  So  it  was  all 
because  your  wife  discovered  you  making  love  to 
Isabel?" 

I  was  a  good  deal  taken  back  by  Gillette's  unconcern, 
but  managed  to  say :  "  I  presume  it  seemed  ungallant 
of  me  that  I  should  forget  her  presence  while  I  pleaded 
for  my  wife's  forgiveness." 

"  She  ought  to  have  been  more  reasonable,"  mocked 
Gillette;  ''she  should  have  appreciated  the  extreme 
awkwardness  of  your  position.  If  it  had  been  a  choice 
between  the  sacrifice  of  a  man  or  of  Isabel,  you  would 
of  course  have  trampled  upon  the  man  without  remorse. 
But  wdien  it  was  a  question  which  woman  of  the  two 
you  should  honor,  it  seems  to  me  even  Isabel  ought  to 
have  had  reason  enough  to  see  Kate  was  entitled  to  the 
oreference." 


An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage,  161 

I  was  quite  at  a  loss  to  know  just  what  to  saj,  and 
wliile  hesitating,  Gillette  continued  more  gravely: 

''Thus  endetli  the  tirst  chapter  of  inj  passionate  ex- 
perience, and  the  last,  I  think.  1  always  thought  women 
too  cold,  but  in  Isabel  I  found  a  volcano.  The  first 
week  of  my  mari'ied  life  was  pleasure  in  perfection,  I 
thought.  I  was  blind  to  evidences  of  selfishness  and 
of  grossness.  I  would  not  entertain  my  dawning  sus- 
picions of  ignorance,  of  laziness  or  of'  cruelty  in  my 
wife.  I  fancied  I  had  found  a  woman  who  would  be 
everything  to  me  that  woman  could  be,  more  than  ever 
woman  was  to  man  before ;  the  same  old  story  you 
know.  Our  life  should  be  one  ecstasy.  But  I  shall 
not  marry  again,  Yinton." 

"  liow  long  before  you  go  East  ? "  I  asked. 
"I  had  planned  to  stay  here  a  month,  but  I  now  am 
anxious  to  get  aw^ay  to-morrow.  There  are  quite  a 
number  of  converts  of  both  sexes  on  the  point  of  join- 
ing us.  When  I  return  in  a  month  or  so,  I  shall  bring 
a  very  interesting  company  with  me.  Must  you  be 
going  ?     Well,  good-bye." 

At  his  door  1  met  Ward  just  coming  to  make  a  call. 
I  was  for  a  hni-ried  salutation  and  departure,  since  I 
was  eager  to  see  Miss  Barden.  But  Ward  absolutely 
declined  to  remark  my  haste,  and  taking  me  by  the 
shoulder,  said  : 

"  I  want  to  speak  with  you  a  minute." 
"  But  I  have  an  appointment,"  I  protested,  looking 
at  my  watch. 

"  You  have  your  whole  afternoon  for  your  appoint- 
ment ;  you  must  give  me  a  minute  or  t\vo." 
''Well,  what  is  it?" 

"  Not  particularly  pleasant  news,  at  least  not  flatter- 
ing," answered  Ward,  laughing. 

"  I  might  have  known  it,"  I  retorted.  "  You  are 
so  anxious  to  give  it  to  me." 

But  Ward  continued  imperturbably  :  "Your  former 
wife  is  receiving  attentions  from  a  new  lover.     He  is 
21 


1G2  An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage. 

the  superintendent  of  the  shipping  department,  1  be- 
lieve." 

"I  don't  blame  him,"  I  answered,  indifferently,  yet 
I  could  not  subdue  tlie  disagreeable  sensation  in  my 
throat. 

"And  I  may  add,"  continued  Ward,  maliciously, 
'*  that  I  think  she  appears  to  like  it." 

"  What  do  you  judge  by  ?  "  I  asked  hotly,  forgetting 
my  role  of  nonchalance.  "What  does  a  confirmed 
old  bachelor  like  you  know  of  the  signs  and  tokens 
of  love?" 

He  winced,  somewhat  unnecessarily  I  thought,  at 
this  fling,  but  answered  : 

'•They  have  been  walking  since  lunch,  and  I  think 
if  you  sauntered  up  'A '  street,  and  assumed  your 
most  unconscious  air,  you  could  meet  them  without 
seeming  to  intend  it.  Thus  you  could  judge  for  your- 
self, since  you  distrust  my  advantages.  By  the  way, 
his  name  is  Sawtelle." 

''  I  am  sure  it  is  not  my  affair  whom  she  likes  or 
dislikes,"  I  exclaimed,  as  I  broke  away  trom  him. 

"  ^or  mine  either,  I  suppose  you  think,"  he  laughed 
as  he  knocked  at  Gillette's  door. 

Of  course  I  had  no  intention  of  following  Ward's 
suggestion.  If  Mr.  Sawtelle  chose  to  make  love  to 
Kate,  and  she  to  listen  to  him,  it  was  outside  of  my 
jurisdiction  entirely.  Yet  instead  of  entering  the 
phalanstery  reception-room,  and  sending  up  my  card 
to  Miss  Barden,  as  I  should  have  done,  I  passed  out  of 
the  main  door  and  went  down  the  steps.  I  had  no  ex- 
cuse for  walking  up  "A"  street,  unless  it  were  to  meet 
Kate  and  Mr.  Sawtelle,  in  accordance  with  Ward's 
recommendation,  which  I  had  scornfully  rejected.  Yet 
I  turned  up  that  very  street,  and  when  I  saw  a  woman 
leaning  on  her  escort's  arm  and  coming  toward  me,  I 
took  a  last  week's  copy  of  my  newspaper  out  of  my 
pocket,  and  affected  to  study  a  paragraph  in  it,  most 
intently.     Still  I  managed  to  see  every  turn  of  Kate's 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  163 

head,  every  movement  of  her  graceful  figure,  and  as, 
with  her  companion,  fche  came  nearer,  I  could  even 
catch  a  word  or  two  of  their  conversation.  They 
doubtless  saw^  a  man  on  the  sidewalk  near  them.  But 
so  absorbed  were  they  in  each  other  that  the  existence 
of  other  specimens  of  their  race  was  of  no  moment  to 
them. 

Why  was  I  in  haste  to  con  chide  so  ?  Because  when 
he  spoke  she  turned  her  face  to^vard  him  as  a  rose 
opens  its  rarest  beauties  to  the  sun,  denying  them  to 
the  moon  or  to  the  briglitest  stars  of  night.  Because 
when  she  addressed  hhn  every  atom  of  his  body  seemed 
to  lean  toward  her,  to  respond  to  her,  to  listen  to  her. 
The  words  I  heard  were  in  disjointed  sentences,  which 
they,  perhaps,  thought,  w^ith  the  nsual  fatuousness  of 
lovers,  were  meaningless  to  outsiders. 

I  heard  him  say:  "I  have  always  felt  so,  too, 
when  the  wind  blew."  He  was  confessing  some  won- 
derful affinity  between  them,  extending  even  to  their 
common  experiences  of  nature. 

Then  I  heard  her  say  :  ''  It  seems  to  me  that  I  did 
not  half  see  the  beauties  of  the  world  until  now."  Thus 
she  showed  him  how  his  influence  had  stimulated  all 
her  senses  into  a  new^  activity. 

When  they  passed  me  I  put  up  my  newspaper  so 
they  coujd  not  see  n]y  face.  I  w\as  fihed  w^ith  indigna- 
tion at  Kate,  who  had  once  lain  in  my  arms,  for  now 
believing  herself  in  love  with  another.  I  was  doubly 
angry  because  I  was  sure  tliat  I  saw  signs  of  an  inten- 
sity of  love,  and  a  perfection  of  sympathy  such  as  slie 
had  not  offered  for  me.  For  a  few  moments  I  stood 
w^here  they  had  passed  me,  but  neither  of  them  looked 
behind.  In  my  wrath  I  concluded  to  follow  them 
until  they  shonld  separate,  then  I  would  overtake  her, 
and  upbraid  her  with  her  unfaithfulness.  I  did  not 
w^ait  to  meditate  what  I  should  say.  My  breast  was  al- 
most bursting  with  a  sense  of  the  outrage  I  felt  had 
been  put  upon  me.     I  was  only  eager  for  an  oppor 


164  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

tunity  to  plead  my  wrongs,  ^o  woman  could  stand 
against  my  reproaches. 

At  the  corner  of  tlie  street  they  paused.  Appa- 
rently, the  man  had  business  calling  him  away,  and 
here  tliey  must  part.  I,  of  course,  paused,  too,  suppos- 
ing tlieir  adieux  would  be  over  in  a  moment.  Why 
sliould  tliey  delay  ?  Had  they  not  been  together  dur- 
ing a  long  walk,  with  opportunity  to  say  every  thing 
which  was  of  the  slightest  importance?  If  he  wanted 
to  tell  her  that  he  loved  her,  he  surely  had  had  time 
sufficient.  If  she  wanted  to  let  him  know  that  she  re- 
turned his  passion,  she  certainly  had  had  opportunity. 
But  yet  they  seemed  to  find  it  hard  to  separate.  He 
would  start  as  if  to  go,  and  some  unuttered  sentiment 
would  occur  to  him,  and  he  would  speak  it,  as  if  it 
were  a  matter'of  life  and  death  to  share  it  with  her, 
and  straightway  forget  that  he  had  been  about  to  leave 
her.  Or  she  would  take  his  hand  in  hers  for  a  last 
caress,  the  sight  of  which  naturally  increased  my  im- 
patience, and  they  would  immediately  become  ob- 
livious to  the  passage  of  time.  If  I  had  doubted  be- 
fore that  they  were'in  love,  the  sight  of  their  lingering 
parting  would  have  con\^nced  me  of  it.  None  but 
lovers  ever  part  so  reluctantly,  each  movement  toward 
separation  stimulating  more  intensely  their  longing 
and  ability  to  please  each  other. 

Finally'^he  went  his  way  and  I  followed  Kate.  But 
as  long  as  they  were  in  sight  of  each  other  they  still 
kept  turning  about  hoping  to  see  each  other's  faces. 
At  every  one  of  these  tell-tale  signs  of  love  my  indig- 
nation at  the  fickleness  of  woman  grew  deeper,  until 
Kate  went  into  her  little  house,  once  my  home,  too. 
Almost  immediately  afterward  I  stood  at  the  door 
with  my  face  set  like  a  flint. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

It  was  apparent  enough  to  me,  from  the  first  glance 
at  Kate's  countenance  as  she  opened  the  door,  that  she 
had  hoped  to  see  quite  another  form  than  mine.  She 
had  been  with  her  new  lover  for  hours,  and  yet  her 
face  was  illumined  with  joy  at  the  thought  that  she 
should  so  soon  see  him  again.  But  in  an  instant  the 
beautiful  light  had  faded,  and  in  its  face  was  a  disap- 
pointment she  tried  in  vain  to  conceal. 

"  Good  afternoon,  Mr.  Yinton,"  she  said,  as  she 
held  out  her  hand.  "  I  amx  glad  to  see  you."  And 
she  led  the  way  into  what  she  used  as  her  sitting-room. 

As  1  entered  the  house  where  I  had  been  so  happy 
my  old  life  seemed  to  rush  back  upon  rae  irresistibly. 
In  this  very  room  how  many  hours  of  sweet  inter- 
change of  love's  secrets  I  had  passed  with  this  woman. 
Why  was  it  she  sat  aloof  from  me  now,  with  only  an 
expression  of  cold  curiosity  on  the  face  where  I  had  so 
often  seen  tenderness  chase  away  shame  ?  It  was  the 
very  room  where  I  had  been  sick  and  so  sweetly  nursed 
by  her.  The  bed  was  removed  now,  but  I  knew  so 
well  where  it  had  stood.  Every  square  of  paper  on  the 
wall  had  been  etched  on  my  memory  in  the  hours  of 
semi-consciousness  I  had  lain  there.  I  now  sat  by  the 
window  in  the  very  spot,  in  the  very  chair,  where, 
witli  her  fair  head  upon  my  shoulder,  I  had  sat  the 
afternoon  of  our  betrothal.  "  The  memory  of  all  the 
kisses  which  she  had  given  me  in  this  room,  clinging, 
burning  kisses,  of  all  the  eager  confessions  of  passion 
I  had  beard  from  her  lips,  was  with  me.  She  had  never 


166  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

looked  more  beautiful  than  at  this  moment,  when  there 
was  a  wall  of  ice  between  ns. 

"  Kate,"  I  began,  "  once  more  we  are  together  in 
this  room.  It  seems  impossible  to  beheve  that  we  are 
no  longer  anything  to  each  other." 

But  she  visibly  shrank  into  herself.  This  movement, 
unconscious  as  it  was,  was  one  more  proof  that  she 
was  in  love  with  another  man.  Words  of  passion  except 
from  the  object  of  her  devotion  seemed  profanation  to 
her. 

"Why,"  she  exclaimed,  "all  that  is  as  far  away  as 
if  it  had  iDeen  in  another  world." 

"But,"  I  insisted,  "when  I  think  how  we  learned 
the  easy  lesson  of  love  in  this  very  room,  how  in  this 
very  chair  I " 

"Don't  say  it,"  she  exclaimed,  as  a  warm  flush 
mounted  to  her  forehead.  "  It  is  blasphemy  to  call  to 
mind  such  scenes  when  their  higher  meaning  is  lost. 
We  thought  we  loved  each  other  then,  and  everything 
w^e  did  was  glorified.     But  why  refer  to  it  now  ? " 

I  felt  as  if  a  spray  of  ice  water  had  been  thrown  in 
my  face.     "  Did  you  never  love  me  then  ? " 

Then  her  eyes  took  an  expression  of  reproach  into 
them. 

"  Why  don't  you  ask,  too,  if  you  never  loved  me  ? 
For  both  Cjuestions  one  answer  will  sufiice.  We  thought 
we  loved  each  other.  That  belief  of  ours  made  sacred 
all  we  felt  and  said  and  did.  Since  we  have  learned 
that  we  made  a  mistake  to  rehearse  now  our  ex- 
periences as  lovers  becomes  intolerable." 

"  But  I  love  you  now,"  I  cried.     "  Love  is  eternal." 

"  Ko,  I  do  not  think  that  even  all  love  is  eternal,"  she 
answered,  coolly.  "I  beheve  that  human  natures  very 
often  make  progress  in  different  directions,  unfitting 
for  each  other  those  w4io  were  at  one  time  well  mated. 
At  a  certain  stage  in  their  lives  a  man  and  woman 
answer  perfectly  to  each  other's  demands  and  sym- 
pathies.    They  are  truly  in  love  then,  although  one  or 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  167 

the  other  may  soon  develop  faculties  which  destroy 
that  affinity.  I  think  that  onr  relation,  however,  was 
only  a  partial  attraction.  Yet  it  was  nearer  love  than 
anything  either  of  us  had  ever  known  before." 

"  Or  will  ever  know  again,"  I  nrged.  She  hesitated 
a  moment  before  replying.  I  began  to  hope  ehe  was 
convinced  and  would  consent  to  take  me  to  her  life 
again.  How  beautiful  she  was,  her  complexion  like  a 
flower,  her  red  gold  hair  like  a  crown  which  was  never 
laid  aside,  her  lips  perfect  food  for  kisses.  But  even 
while  she  paused  a  different  train  of  thought  made  its 
rapid  transit  through  my  brain.  Always  prone  to 
analysis  and  comparison,  I  tried  to  compare  my  feel- 
ings toward  Kate  now  and  as  they  were  at  our  first 
betrothal.  I  was  able  to  discern  that  it  was  more  re- 
gret at  what  was  gone  than  hope  of  renewing  our  past 
relations,  that  was  disturbing  me.  It  was  not  that  I 
was  so  much  affected  now  by  her  physical  loveliness,  as 
that  I  was  full  of  vivid  recollection  of  how  it  had  once 
moved  me.  It  was  not  that  I  was  in  love  with  her  now, 
but  that  I  was  in  love  with  the  vision  of  our  past.  But 
she  was  speaking  again. 

"  I  do  not  like  to  have  to  remind  you  of  your  infatua- 
tion for  Mrs.  Gillette." 

"  I  did  not  love " 

'•^  No,  I  do  not  believe  that  you  had  any  love  for  her, 
but  I  believe  she  had  an  overpowering  physical  attrac- 
tion for  you.  If  my  physical  attraction  for  you  had 
been  complete  there  would  have  been  no  place  for  her. 
I  am  sure  you  will  find  true  love  sometime.  As  for 
me,  I  have  found  it." 

"  It  is  the  man  you  were  walking  with  ?  " 

"How  did  you  know  it?"  she  demanded,  quickly. 
*'  I  did  not  suppose  any  one  guessed  it." 

I  smiled  grimly.  "  Why  the  very  birds  of  the  air 
can  see  it,"  I  answered,  satirically,  "  can  see,  at  least, 
that  you  think  yourself  in  love." 

"think  myself  in  love?"  she  smiled.     '*  Ah,  but  I 


168  An  Ex])eriment  in  Marriage, 

know  it.  Yon  are  about  to  remind  me  that  I  have  been 
mistaken  before.  But  for  that  very  reason  I  am  less 
h'able  to  error  now.  If  I  were  a  joung  maiden  listen- 
ing to  the  tender  nothings  of  a  youth  as  untried  as  she, 
as  ignorant  of  liiraself,  as  undiscerning  of  others,  you 
migbt  well  say  that  I  was  liable  to  mistake  for  love  what 
were  perhaps  the  flutterings  of  vanity,  or  was  perhaps 
the  first  feverish  sense  of  physical  response.' '  Then  she 
gave  me  a  look  of  liaK  apology  as  she  continued : 
''  You  will  forgive  me  for  saying  it,  but  it  is  by  com- 
parison with  my  feelings  for  you,  who  came  so  near  to 
being  my  true  lover,  that  I  am  assured  he  has  come  at 
last.  Of  course  I  cannot  be  as  sure  that  he  loves  me 
as  I  love  him,  and  in  Grape  Yalley  we  do  not  trust 
in  those  one-sided  love  affairs  which  are  so  much  in 
vogue  in  the  outside  world.  If  a  man  does  not  love  a 
woman  as  much  as  she  loves  him  it  is  so  much  the  worse 
for  both  of  them.  It  proves  they  are  not  meant  for 
each  other.  He  cannot  give  or  enjoy  as  he  should,  and 
soon  her  love  will  fade.  Yet  I  feel  that  such  fulness 
of  feeling  as  I  have  can  result  only  from  a  perfection 
of  harmony  between  us." 

"I  suppose  your  new  lover  is  as  brilliant  as  a  two- 
edged  sword,"  I  said,  bitterly, ''  as  learned  as  an  encyclo- 
pedia, as  handsome  as  a  new  Apollo." 

A  look  of  surprise  crossed  her  face.  "  I  should  not 
have  expected  such  a  tone  from  you,  but  I  suppose  the 
feeling  of  the  old  world,  that  a  woman  is  the  perpetual 
slave  of  the  man  whom  she  once  loved,  clings  very 
strongly.  ]Nc,  my  lover  is  not  an  Apollo.  I  suppose 
he  would  not  be  called  nearly  as  handsome  as  you.  But 
in  my  eyes  he  is  beautiful.  He  is  not  a  scholar  nor  a 
literary  man.  You  could  overwhelm  him  with  knowl- 
edge in  a  fifteen  minutes'  conversation.  But  he  knows 
quite  enough  to  make  his  way  to  my  heart.  He  is  not 
even  as  ready  a  talker  as  I.  He  is  not  quick  with  his 
answers  nor  is  he  at  all  witty.  But  I  am  interested 
in  every  word  he  drops.     Everything  he  says  arouses 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  169 

in  me  some  cmTent  of  thought  and  sentiment.  I  love 
him,  that  is  all,  except  that  he  loves  me  too." 

The  sweetness  of  this  woman's  disposition  was 
marvelons.  I  was  conscious  I  had  deserved  no  such 
magnanimous  treatment  as  I  had  received,  but  yet  did 
not'soften  under  it.  It  humiliated  me  beyond  endur- 
ance that  a  woman  who  had  been  mine  could  now  con- 
fess herself  so  wholly  another's.  As  long  as  she  had  lived 
unmarried,  I  could  think  of  her  as  still  missing  me, 
still  longing  for  me,  in  spite  of  her  dismissal  of  me.  But 
that  my  place  not  only  should  be  taken  by  another, 
but  so  much  more  than  made  good,  was  very  bitter  to 
me.  In  a  few  days  it  w^ould  be  this  interloper  who 
should  sit  where  I  sat  now,  and  on  his  shoulder  would 
bo  pillowed  her  head,  which  had  once  lain  on  mine. 
For  him  would  she  whisper  her  tender  emotions,  from 
him  hear  the  same  old  words  which  the  lovers  of 
unnumbered  centuries  have  used,  and  their  descendants 
can  find  nothing  to  improve  upon.  I  rose  to  my  feet 
and  my  head  grew  hot  and  dizzy. 

"  So  he  will  kiss  your  lips  as  I  have  done,"  I  cried. 
"  He  will  stroke  your  hair,  and  you  will  twine  your  soft 
arms  about  his  neck  as  you  have  done  about  mine,  and 
give  kiss  for  kiss,  caress  for  caress.  Oh,  it  is 
shameful." 

Her  face  grew  so  white  that  I  was  frightened  into 
my  senses.     How  vilely   I  was  insulting  her. 

'^  Ob,  forgive  me,"  I  stammered.  *' I  did  not  know 
what  I  was  saying." 

She  had  risen  to  her  feet  too,  and  as  I  murmured 
my  broken  excuses,  a  little  of  the  lost  color  returned 
to  her  cheeks.  Her  hps  moved  for  a  reply,  but  she 
she  stood  with  downcast  eyes. 

"  Yes,  I  am  ashamed,"  she  said,  in  low  even  tones. 
"  You  make  me  ashamed  that  I  w^as  ever  so  much  to 
you,  who  have  the  heart  to  taunt  me  with  giving  the 
best  a  woman  has  to  the  man  she  thinks  worthy.  But 
you  must  remember  that  then  J  believed  we  were  true 
22 


170  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

lovers.  I  believed  jou  were  the  desire  and  satisfaction 
of  mj  life.  It  is  for  that  reason  I  had  not  thought  it 
a  shame  to  give  the  best  I  had.  It  made  me  no  poorer. 
It  ought  to  have  made  you  happier  and  purer.  But 
that  I  am  ashamed  to  have  given  my  kisses  and 
embraces  to  one  who  remembers  them  only  to  despise 
me,  does  not  make  me  ashamed  to  offer  them  where 
they  will  be  a  real  sacrament." 

"  I  did  not  know  what  I  was  saying,"  I  repeated,  in 
my  confusion.  ''I  know  you  are  the  purest  woman 
in  the  world." 

Slie  raised  her  eyes  at  last  and  gave  me  a  sad  smile. 
"  If  anything  was  lacking  to  break  the  last  tie  be- 
tween us,  you  have  supphed  it.  Yes,  I  forgive  you. 
Good-bye."  I  took  my  hat  and  went  out  without 
once  looking  back. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

As  I  walked  np  the  street  I  met  Ward  and  Gil- 
lette. The  latter  tried  to  avoid  meetiniy  my  eye.  With 
a  delicacy  peculiarly  his  own,  he  wished  to  avoid  seeing 
sio^ns  of  emotion  which  I  might  not  care  to  betray. 
Ward,  on  the  other  hand,  was  intent  on  his  lesson  in 
vivisection,  and  scrutinized  my  tell-tale  face  very 
narrowly. 

^ '  I  see  you  have  convinced  yourself  that  Kate  is  in 
love  again." 

**  Yes,  I  have,"  I  answered  defiantly.  "  And  she 
loves  this  time  far  more  deeply  than  she  ever  loved 
me.     I  can  see  that  too." 

Gillette  took  my  arm  and  said  in  that  very  winning 
way  of  his : 

''  Come,  my  boy,  there  is  an  hour  yet  before  dinner. 
Let  us  talk  it  over." 

Ward  stalked  along  on  the  other  side  and  only  gave 
me  a  few  seconds'  respite. 

"  I  hope  this  will  be  a  lesson  to  you,  Yinton,  to  keep 
out  of  further  entanglements." 

"  For  my  part,"  said  Gillette,  "  I  hope  he  will  learn 
quite  a  different  lesson  —  a  lesson  of  gratitude,  that 
when  he  makes  a  mistake  he  is  in  a  place  where  it  can 
be  rectified  without  ruining  two  lives  directly,  and 
causing,  God  knows,  how  much  outside  mischief." 

"But  how  can  you  expect  a  man  of  sensibility  to 
tolerate  it,"  urged  Ward,  "  when  his  wife  informs 
him  that  she  loves  him  no  more,  and  is  going  to  marry 
some  other  man  ?  Of  course  never  having  been  in 
love  myself,  I  am  not  able.to  go  into  details  as  either 


172  A?i  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

of  you  could  do.  But  it  would  seem  to  be  like  snap- 
ping heart  bands  and  breaking  tender  associations 
enough  to  make  a  whole  life  miserable. ' 

"  So  it  would  be,"  answered  Gillette,  leaving  me, 
very  considerately,  a  silent  listener,  "  so  it  would  be  in 
the  old  world.  But  our  whole  idea  of  the  relation  of 
the  sexes  is  different,  and  our  institutions,  manners  and 
customs  permit  our  idea  to  be  carried  out  without 
these  heartrending  effects  you  mention.  There  are  no 
children  in  the  home  here,  to  make  a  division  of 
parents  also  a  division  of  children.  The  affectionate 
parents  can  always  be  assured  that  their  children  have 
the  best  of  care,  and  that  they  can  be  with  the  little 
ones  as  much  as  desired  under  any  circumstances.  Then 
the  Grape  Yalley  wife  is  not  a  dependent  on  her  hus- 
band for  support,  nor  he  on  her  for  the  comforts  and 
conveniences  of  a  home.  They  are  not  shut  up  to 
each  other  during  their  marriage,  nor  shut  out  from 
the  conditions  essential  to  comfort  after  divorce.  Under 
our  system  a  husband  and  wife  are  simply  companions, 
whose  continued  intimacy  depends  on  their  love  for 
each  other.  "When  that  love  ceases  or  is  discovered  to 
be  imperfect,  there  is  nothing  to  keep  them  together.'' 

"  Why,  look  at  it  a  minute,  Gillette.  What  kind  of 
a  thing  is  this  marriage  of  yours?  It  is  not  deserving 
the  name.  I  don't  see  any  reason  why  a  man  might 
not  marry  a  different  v\'oman  every  year,  or  more  often 
still  if  he  chose.'' 

"AVhat  we  seek,"  explained  Gillette,  "is  the  perfect 
freedom  in  the  marriage  relation,  which  in  the  old 
order  of  society  is  impossible.  The  absolute  depend- 
ence of  the  woman  on  the  man  for  support,  the  ab- 
solute dependence  of  the  children  on  their  father  for 
means  of  support,  and  on  their  mother  for  care,  made 
it  necessary  that  marriage  ties  there  should  be  as  near 
indissoluble  as  possible.  A  husband  and  wife  might 
hate  and  despise  each  other;  they  must  ii.till  be  united. 
The  very   existence   of^j^our   whole   organization  of 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  173 

society  depends  upon  it.  Thousands  of  years  of  sucli 
customs  bred  a  secondary  moralit}^,  a  system  of  artifi- 
cial virtues.  Hence  has  come  the  sentimentality  that 
a  woman  is  sullied  by  experience  of  passion,  that  ig- 
norance is  virtue,  that  inexperience  is  innocence,  tLit 
simplicity  is  honor.  The  superstition  went  so  far  that 
it  was  as  if  the  very  kisses  of  a  man's  lips  left  physical 
stains  upon  the  woman  lie  did  not  marry.  If  a  girl, 
yielding  to  the  force  of  what  seemed  to  her  a  sacred 
passion,  granted  a  lover  her  greatest  favor,  she  was  re- 
garded as  physically  impure,  as  having  irretrievably  lost 
her  honor,  henceforth  only  to  be  pointed  at  as  an  ob- 
ject of  scorn." 

"  And  how  would  you  regard  such  a  woman  in 
Grape  Yalley?"  demanded  Ward. 

"  Why,  my  dear  friend,"  answered  Gillette,  "  three- 
quarters  of  our  women  have  been  married  to  different 
men  for  short  periods,  and  divorced  for  no  cause  except 
that  they  believe  they  could  love  some  other  men 
more,  or  that  then'  husbands  have  been  attracted  else- 
where. ^  They  would  be  regarded  as  women  lost  to 
shame  in  your  old  society.  Here  we  have  only  respect 
for  their  devotion  to  love  itself,  which  we  regard  as  a 
great  influence  for  good  in  liuman  hfe,  if  given  its  full 
course.  We  do  not  believe  it  defiles  a  woman's  hps  to 
have  given  the  kiss  of  love  to  more  than  one  man.  We 
believe  she  is  better  fitted  from  her  experience  to  make 
the  man  who  is  her  final  choice  perfectly  happy." 

"  And  if  she  does  not  find  her  perfect  mate  ?'"  asked 
A7ard 

"  Then  she  takes  to  each  successive  lover  some  new 
mental  acconjplishment,  some  richer  spiritual  experi- 
ence. For  that  niatter  there  are  many  of  us,  of  both 
sexes,  who  are  not  fortunate  enough  to  find  a  perfect 
marriage.  Probably  this  failure  is  owing  to  the  limited 
numbers  in  the  colony.  We  do  not  meet  the  person 
of  the  opposite  sex  fitted  to  make  us  happy.  To  such 
of  us  is  denied  the  great  joy  and  culmination  of  life. 


174  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

But  still,  under  our  system,  the  experiences  of  even 
those  perpetuallv  mismated  are  varied,  and  their  pro- 
gress in  education  rapid.  This  3'ear  one  of  us  marries 
for  pure  sensualism  ;  it  is  at  a  period  which  comes  in 
most  lives,  when  the  physical  seems  of  disproportionate 
account.  Perhaps  one  short  experience  is  enough  to 
teach  him  that  there  must  be  a  higher  sensibility  than 
that  of  the  flesh.  His  first  marriage  being  to  a  woman 
of  coarse,  animal  traits,  and  thus  bringing  speedy  dis- 
content, he,  perhaps,  marries  next  a  more  refined  epicu- 
rean. These  two  experiences  passed,  the  man  is  likely 
to  marry,  the  third  time,  a  highly  rarified  s])iritual  na- 
tare.  As  long  as  his  curiosity  is  piqued  and  his  inter- 
est unappeased,  she  holds  him,  but  if  she  cannot  attract 
his  whole  nature,  one  of  them  soon  wearies  of  the  other, 
and  he  is  free  to  try  Again.  Now,  perhaps,  he  is  at- 
tracted by  the  romantic  woman,  and  this  marriage  only 
endures  until  he  has  learned  also  somewhat  to  under- 
stand her  nature.  The  ed  a  cation  of  our  example  has 
been  nobly  carried  on,  and  different  faculties  and  tastes 
have  been  pleased  and  stimulated  by  these  different 
women.  To  each  one  he  has  carried  capacities  to  im- 
prove, which  he  would  not  have  had  without  his  pre- 
vious experiences.  As  he  leaves  each  one  he  has 
achieved  some  new  advance  for  himself." 

"  But  you  do  not  tell  me  whether  you  have  no  sexual 
frailty  here  ?  "  insisted  Ward. 

"  Yes,  there  have  been  cases  of  men  who  did  not  wait 
for  divorce  or  marriage  to  pursue  their  experiences. 
But  such  irregularities  have  so  little  occasion  or  excuse 
here  that  they  are  growing  to  be  of  rare  occurrence. 
In  your  society  they  come  when  wives  love  other  men 
than  their  husbands,  husbands  other  women  than  their 
wives,  a  very  common  condition.  They  occur  also 
among  those  shut  out  by  poverty  from  the  privileges 
of  marriage.  Yery  frequently,  too,  they  occur  when 
women  are  forced  by  want  to  barter  for  bread  what 
should  be  given  only  for  love.      But  here  marriage 


An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage.  175 

exists  no  longer  than  both  parties  desire.  Here  there 
is  no  poverty  to  hinder  marriage,  and  marriage  does 
not  increase  the  responsibiUties  or  burdens  of  either 
husband  or  wife.  Here  there  is  no  want  to  drive  suf- 
fering womanhood  to  shame  and  humihation.  Yon 
might  expect  danger  in  the  perfect  freedom  of  tlie 
social  intercourse  of  the  sexes,  married  and  unmarried, 
and  in  the  removal  of  all  the  restraints  to  intimacy,  to 
which  men  and  women  have  been  subjected  for  so 
many  thousand  years.  Bnit  women  have  with  their  in- 
dependence gained  a  new  dignity.  They  do  not  regard 
it  as  a  coQi])liment  that  a  man  should  profess  to  be  in 
love  with  them  unless  he  offers  marriage,  since  mar- 
riage is  free  of  burden  here,  and  divorce  so  easy.  Men 
become  asliamed  to  propose  an  illicit  relation  to  a 
woman  when  the  public  and  reputable  one  is  so  open 
to  them.  Still  there  are  some  cases  where  women  give 
favors  to  men  whom  they  would  not  want  to  marry, 
some  instances  when  men  seek  and  obtain  privileges 
from  women  v/hom  they  would  object  to  marrying. 
Divorces  usually  follow  exposure  in  such  cases.  But 
no  disgrace  or  dishonor  is  visited  on  either  of  the  in- 
discreet parties,  much  less  are  they  punished.  They 
are  regarded  simply  as  not  having  been  wise,  as  not 
having  shown  a  proper  appreciation  of  what  the  rela- 
tion of  the  sexes  should  be.  The  woman,  too,  is  as 
likely  to  have  another  lover  and  one  who  will  desire 
marriage  as  is  the  man." 

''-  But  you  are  letting  down  the  gates  to  vice,"  ex- 
claimed Ward,  sternly. 

We  had  reached  the  phalanstery  door,  and  I  stood 
waiting  to  hear  Gillette's  reply  before  going  to  my  room 
and  preparing  for  dinner. 

"  You  should  rather  say  that  we  are  removing  the 
motive  for  vice,"  said  Gillette.  "  The  sexual  instinct 
is  one  of  the  most  destructive  forces  in  your  society. 
We  are  making  it  not  only  the  means  to  an  ideally  happy 
state,  but  the  most  elevating  and  educating  influence 


170  A7i  ]ix2)eriment  in  Marriage. 

ever  known.  Every  man  must  acknowledge  how  pure, 
how  strong  for  right,  how  wholly  unselfish  he  feels 
when  in  love.  We  are  utilizing  that  force  to  uplift 
society  and  clarify  and  glorify  the  character  of  the  in- 
dividual. Your  society  has  treated  men  and  women 
as  if  they  were  beasts  whose  appetites  must  be  legis- 
lated against,  and  whose  passions  must  be  provided 
against,  or  society  would  fall  to  pieces.  We  have  for- 
mulated our  society  on  the  basis  of  immunitj^  from 
physical  want  and  from  social  restraints.  The  brute, 
when  restraint  is  removed,  satisfies  his  animal  instinct 
as  he  has  the  opportunity.  Man,  with  his  triple  nature, 
seeks  a  three-fold  satisfaction.  Mind  and  spirit  have 
sex  as  well  as  has  the  body,  so  if  under  proper  con- 
ditions we  only  free  man  from  checks  and  restraints, 
he  will  seek  the  fittest  object  for  love.  He  may  not 
find  it  at  first,  but  he  will  be  actuated  by  the  worthiest 
desire  to  perfect  his  nature,  and  he  may  be  trusted." 

"  But "  began  the  indomitable  Ward. 

I,  however,  tarried  to  hear  no  more,  but  drawing 
my  arms  from  those  of  my  friends,  hastened  to  my 
rooms  and  prepared  for  dinner.  I  was  surprised  to 
find  I  did  not  continue  miserable  over  Kate's  new  be- 
trothal. A  slight  sense  of  humiliation  at  the  ease  with 
which  she  seemed  to  have  transferred  her  affections 
still  rankled  in  me,  but  I  was  able  now  to  regard  her 
and  her  future  doings  with  considerable  tranquillity. 
Perhaps  Gillette's  talk,  while  not  addressed  to  me,  had 
in  some  degree  softened  my  prejudices.  Possibly  it  was 
only  that  he  had  kindly  distracted  my  attention  from 
my  bereavement,  and,  meanwhile,  my  unreasonable 
fever  of  jealousy  had  had  time  to  cool.  I  remembered 
now  the  appointment  with  Miss  Barden  which  I  had 
completely  forgotten,  and  while  I  selected  a  particu- 
larly becoming  necktie,  I  racked  my  brain  for  some  ex- 
cuse beside  the  true  one  for  my  failure  to  call  upon  her. 

I  was  early  in  the  reception-room,  and  getting  the 
ear  of  the  chamberlain,  suggested  that  he  assign  me  as 


An  J^xperimeni  in  Marriage.  177 

Miss  Barden's  escort  to  dinner.  This  arrangement 
having  been  consummated  to  mj  satisfaction,  and  the 
dining-i'oom  doors  being  just  then  thrown  open,  we 
walked  along  without  exchanging  other  than  the 
merest  commonplaces.  As  w^e  passed  through  the 
doors,  however,  Miss  Barden  glanced  behind  us,  and 
then  murmured  to  me  in  an  undertone : 

"  I  see  your  old  sweetheart  and  her  new  lover  behind 
us.     How  can  you  endure  it  ?  " 

I  was  very  well  satisfied  with  my  behavior  at  this 
moment,  since  I  did  not  even  change  color,  but  re- 
sponded with  ready  gallantry: 

"  Miss  Barden  reconciles  nie  to  it." 

Before  she  could  speak  again  we  were  at  our  places 
at  table.  But  once  seated  she  turned  her  bright  face 
toward  me : 

''  Now,  you  musn't  spoil  all  my  fun  by  falling  in 
love  with  me." 

"  And  why  not  ?  "  I  demanded,  not  at  all  displeased 
at  the  obvious  admission  that  she  entertained  the  pos- 
sibility. 

"  I  told  you  that  love  and  I  were  strangers,"  she 
replied,  with  a  smile. 

''Let  me  make  you  acquainted,  then,"  I  answered, 
quickly.      At  this  the  lady  laughed  outright. 

"  I  acknowledge  I  like  you,"  she  said,  "  but  I  want 
to  give  you  warning  in  advance  that  I  do  not  believe  I 
shall  ever  love  any  one.  An  intellectual  union  would 
be  perfectly  to  my  taste ;  but  these  kisses  and  em- 
braces, ball !  "  And  she  shrugged  her  shoulders.  "  I 
don't  see  how  any  one  can  be  so  gross." 

"But  how  glorious  a  thing  it  is  to  learn  something 
new,"  I  suggested,  as  we  began  our  dinner. 

"  If  you  ever  urge  me  to  marry  you  I  know  I  shall 
hate  you,"  she  insisted,  with  a  frankness  which  had  a 
very  piquant  effect.  "It  would  simply  distress  and 
exasperate  me  to  be  asked  to  do  anything  more  than 
talk  with  you." 
33 


178  A7i  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

When  the  dinner  was  cleared  away  the  toast-master 
rose  from  his  chair  and  looking  hard  in  our  direction, 
said : 

"  1  have  warned  a  certain  lady  who  graces  our  table 
that  I  should  call  upon  her  to-night  to  defend  her  posi- 
tion. She  has  been  among  us  four  years,  but  none  of 
our  best  favored  men  has  yet  found  favor  in  her  eyes. 
She  lives  in  an  atmosphere  of  love  and  marriage,  but 
will  have  neither  —  Miss  Barden." 

My  companion  rose  after  only  a  moment's  hesitation, 
and  her  clear  voice  thrilled  me  with  a  new  power. 

"  I  presume  our  brilliant  toast-master  expected  me 
to  reply  with  light  repartee  and  pungent  epigram. 
Bat  1  shall  disappoint  him  by  taking  his  question 
seriously,  and  answering  him  logically.  However 
callous  I  may  have  seemed  to  the  urgency  of  ardent 
lovers,  I  have  never  yet  been  accused  of  avoiding  the 
society  of  men.  I  prefer,  infinitely  prefer,  to  talk  with 
a  man  above  all  the  women  in  Christendom.  I  listen  to 
his  ideas  with  eagerness  and  feel  mine  stimulated. 
Every  word  he  utters  suggests  new  lines  of  thought  to 
me.  I  am  intensely  happy  as  I  reply  to  him.  I  am 
thrilled  witli  a  peculiar  delight  as  I  notice  his  quick  re- 
sponse, his  full  appreciation.  I  do  not  feel  this  stimulus 
in  talking  with  women.  I  do  not  experience  this  eug- 
gestiveness  from  woman's  conversation.  [Neither  am  I 
conscious  of  pleasing  them  as  I  have  been  vain  enough 
to  imagine  I  have  pleased  men  in  what  1  say.  But  do 
not  speak  of  marriage  to  me.  I  am,  Mr.  Toast-master, 
an  intellectual  free  lover.  The  sex  in  mind  and  spirit 
I  recognize  and  enjoy  to  its  full.  Do  not  ask  me  to  do 
more." 

As  Miss  Barden  sat  down,  I  bent  toward  her  and 
whispered  under  my  breath : 

"  You  will  sometime  know  what  the  other  love 
means." 

She  gave  me  an  almost  insulted  look.  It  was  as  if 
her  Diana-like  instinct  svas  aroused  and  put  upon  the 
defensive. 


All  Experiment  in  Marriage.  179 

"I  defy  yon  to  teacli  me,"  she  answered.  The  toast- 
master  rose  agaio,  as  I  whispered  to  her  in  sudden  new 
excitement : 

"  I  accept  yom-  challenge."  And  as  her  ear  caught 
my  words  I  saw  a  delicate  flush  as  of  frightened  maiden- 
hood rise  from  her  neck  and  diffuse  itself  over  her 
cheeks  and  brow.  But  her  face  was  resolutely  turned 
toward  the  toast-master,  who  was  just  speaking  again. 

"A  year  since  two  students  of  social  phenomena,  as 
we  were  informed  they  were,  came  here.  One  of  them 
has  so  far  accepted  our  institutions  as  to  give  us  to  be- 
lieve he  approves  of  thetn.  The  other  makes  no  secret 
of  his  criticism.  It  may  be  instructive,  and  it  will 
certainly  be  pleasant  for  us  to  hear  from  both  of  these 
gentlemen  before  we  return  to  the  hall  for  our  evening 
of  dancing.  We  can  take  the  bitter  with  the  sweet. 
Let  us  begin  with  tlie  bitter.  Mr.  Ward  will  you  tell 
us  what  you  think  of  us  ? " 

I  was  very  glad  it  was  Ward  who  was  called  upon 
first,  as  this  gave  me  some  opportunity  to  get  my  own 
thoughts  in  order.  I  was  anxious  to  make  a  favorable 
impression  on  Miss  Barden,  whose  cool,  piercing  in- 
tellect almost  terrified  me.  I  have  usually  been  pos- 
sessed of  a  more  than  ordinary  degree  of  self-confi- 
dence, but  I  dreaded  this  girl's  judgment  as  a  patient 
must  dread  the  surgeon's  knife.  I  saw  Ward  rise  and 
heard  him  begin  by  saying: 

"To  criticise  those  whom  I  esteem  so  highly,  and 
who  have  treated  me  so  kindly  is  a  most  uno^racious 
task." 

Then  I  forgot  all  about  Ward  in  a  feverish  attempt 
to  arrange  in  some  sort  of  order  what  I  had  to  say. 

"  Your  friend  Is  a  very  pleasant  speaker  "  said  Miss 
Barden,  giving  me  a  quick  glance  which  disturbed  my 
train  of  thought  and  decided  me  to  abandon  all  anxiety 
as  to  what  I  should  say,  and  depend  on  my  usual  guide, 
temporary  inspiration.  Apparently  my  friend  had 
overcome  his  verv  commendable  disinclination  to  criti- 


180  Aji  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

cise.  Probably  be  bad  explained  it  away  in  bis  usual 
courtly  fasbion,  for  certainly  wben  I  next  began  to  lis- 
ten to  bim  be  was  handling  Grape  Yalley  institutions 
in  anytbing  but  a  gentle  manner. 

"  You  are  destroying  tbose  feminine  qualities  wbicb 
bave  been  most  admired.  Tbe  woman  of  Grape  Val- 
ley cannot  long  remain  timid,  shrinking,  ingennons. 
Sbe  mnst  lose  tbe  quality  of  self-effacement  for  tbe 
sake  of  ber  dear  ones.  Sbe  must  become  self-assertive, 
forward;  shall  I  say  immodest  ?  In  our  old  world,  wbicb 
yon  so  despise,  tbe  maiden  is  sby,  innocent,  unsuspect- 
ing tbe  wickedness  of  tbe  world.  Tbe  wife  feels 
that  ber  bopes,  ber  dreams,  ber  possibilities,  are 
limited  to  ber  own  home.  Sbe  tbinks,  struggles  and 
suffers  only  for  ber  bnsband,  and  thus  shows  tbe 
full  glory  of  womanbood.  Under  your  system  tbe 
distinctive  feminine  qualities  will  soon  disappear. 
Our  system  intensities  and  perpetuates  tbem.  As  I 
close  let  me  say  that  your  industrial  system  I  wbolly 
approve.  By  it  3^ou  insure  to  eacb  individual  satisfac- 
tion of  bis  necessities  and  a  certain  modicum  of  ])leas- 
Tire.  Men  fight  no  longer  for  tbe  privilege  of  domg  a 
piece  of  work,  but  are  all  working  together  peacefully 
to  perform  it  for  tbe  common  benefit.  If  you  bad 
but  preserved  wbat  seems  to  me  tbe  natural  relations 
of  the  sexes,  making  marriage  a  permanent  bond,  and 
restoring  tbe  home,  I  sbould  only  bave  words  of  ap- 
proval and  good  speed  for  you." 

Tben  AVard  sat  down  amid  general  applause  and  tbe 
toast-master  rose  again,  and  in  well-modulated  phrase 
called  upon  me.  All  my  diffidence  bad  vanisbed. 
Ward  bad  sbown  himself  my  friend  on  many  occa- 
sions, but  never  more  tban  in  his  speecb  this  evening. 
He  had  supplied  me  a  text  for  all  I  cared  to  say.  After 
paying  tbe  customary  compliment  to  tbe  toast-master, 
I  spol^  as  follows  : 

"  The  gentleman  who  bas  just  addressed  you  bas 
been  my  particular  friend  for  many  years,  yet  we  have 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  181 

never  agreed  except  on  very  insigniiicant  qnestioiis. 
Every  subject  ever  mooted  between  men  has  been  dis- 
cussed bv  us.  We  differed  when  we  began,  we  differed 
at  every  stage  of  the  discussion,  we  seemed  to  differ 
when  we  finished.  Still,  I  have  often  been  convinced 
that  my  friend's  logic  had  been  mortally  wounded,  al- 
though he  would  not  lower  his  sword.  I  was  the 
more  sure  of  this  because  I  know  how  often  I  have 
hurled  back  defiance  at  him  when  I  fe]t  that  I  was  en- 
tirely overcome.  Once  more  we  differ,  and  once  more 
we  oppose  each  other,  but  I  shall  not  despair  of  con- 
verting my  friend  to  what  I  have  learned  to  regard  as 
the  truth.  He  will  hold  out  to  the  last,  but  I  have  no 
doubt  I  shall  yet  carry  his  scalp  at  my  belt." 

Just  here  a  little  stir  ran  over  the  company,  and  a 
rustle,  that  sweetest  sound  to  the  ear  of  the  public 
speaker.  I  had  made  a  point,  and  m  a  second  more  I 
heard  two  hands  applauding  me  at  my  side.  Then  a 
wave  of  applause  swept  around  the  table.  The  com- 
pany was  wholly  in  sympathy  with  me,  and  was  eager 
to  see  me  demoHsh  my  friend. 

*'I  am  the  more  encouraged  to  expect  his  confession 
because  without  assistance  from  me  he  has  reached  the 
point  that  he  wholly  approves  the  industrial  system  of 
Grape  Yalley.  He  approves  the  system  which  makes 
all  adults  equal  sharers  in  the  product  of  their  joint 
labor.  He  admits  that  he  approves  of  a  system  which 
makes  women  as  materially  independent  as  men.  ^^ow, 
it  is  this  very  system  which  permits  and  calls  for  new 
institutions  of  marriage.  Women  may  naturally  de- 
cline to  be  subject  to  men  unless  the  men  have  a 
material  basis  for  the  authority  they  wish  to  exert.  For 
countless  years  women  have  been  dependent  for  their 
fate  on  attracting  some  man's  favor,  and  thus  securing 
a  marriage  which  would  relieve  fathers  or  more  remote 
relatives  of  the  burden  of  their  support,  or  in  lack  of 
relatives,  would  alone  secure  them  against  positive 
want.     So,  after  marriage,  cnme  the  necessity  of  cling- 


182  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

ing  to  that  "husband  through  good  and  ill  report,  of  en- 
during everything  at  his  hands,  even  although  he 
might  be  raoralljM-epulsive  or  physically  disgusting.  If 
slie  parted  from  him  there  came  the  blasting  of  the 
lives  of  children,  the  loss  of  home  and  comforts,  the 
deprivation  of  the  very  food  her  jDoor  body  required, 
and  the  raiment  to  protect  her  from  the  cold.  The 
whole  legal  and  moral  force  of  society  was  accordingly 
exerted  to  make  perpetual  the  marriage  tie,  to  protect 
the  home  as  it  was  called.  Poets,  noveh'sts,  preachers 
innumerable,  have  built  up  a  mighty  wall  of  tradition 
about  this  marriage.  All  other  considerations  are  as 
nothing  in  the  eye  of  the  moral' teacher  of  civilization 
compared  to  the  maintenance  of  the  inviolabilitj^  of 
the  marriage  bond.  That  most  marriages  take  place 
on  insufficient  acquaintance,  and  the  young  and  ardent 
are  far  more  hkely  to  make  a  mistake  than  a  judicious 
choice,  is  of  no  account;  that  accident  and  not  suit- 
ability are  the  causes  of  most  marriages,  and  hence 
that  love  wanes  with  the  honeymoon,  and  the  marriage 
relation  becomes,  very  commonly,  a  union  for  con- 
venience, a  mere  friendly  companionshij),  or  a  daily 
scourge.  Marriage  was  the  ver}^  foundation  of  the  old 
order,  and  must  be  preserved  as  nominally  perpetual 
long  after  every  good  or  true  element  in  the  relation 
might  have  disappeared.  At  last  we  are  shown 
a  system  of  society  where  marriage  can  be  re- 
garded as  a  means  for  the  intimacy  of  the  sexes,  as  a 
relation  which  can  double  each  soul's  life  and  joy. 
Friendship  does  not  enable  us  to  overleap  the  bars 
which  seclude  the  individual  life.  It  is  only  through 
sex  that  perfect  sympathy  becomes  possible,  only 
through  sex  that  one  being  can  enter  into  the  life  and 
share  the  experiences  and  profit  by  the  knowlege  of 
another.  But  the  forced  intimacy  of  the  sexes  where 
the  fullest  form  of  love  does  not  exist  is  the  real  offense 
against  honor  and  chastity.  The  Grape  Yalley  insti- 
tutions make  it  possible  for  a  man  and  woman  to  meet 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  183 

and  know  each  other  without  fear  or  favor,  without 
diffidence  on  her  side  for  she  has  no  cause  to  be  ashamed, 
without  patronage  on  his  side,  for  he  has  no  more  to  be- 
stow than  she.  She  is  no  longer  a  timid  creature  first 
to  be  captured  like  a  shy  bird  and  then  held  forever  in 
the  toils.  Her  sex  is  rehabilitated.  Its  place  in  pro- 
gress and  civilization,  as  a  power  for  the  spiritual  de- 
velopment and  intellectual  culture  of  the  world,  is  as- 
sured. The  time  has  forever  passed  when  shyness 
and  shamefacedness  must  be  considered  her  crowning 
attributes.  Her  longings  for  a  union  capable  of  per- 
fecting her  nature  need  no  longer  be  concealed.'' 

Then  I  took  my  seat  and  was  rewarded  with  more  ap- 
plause than  I  merited.  My  friend  Ward  joined  as 
heartily  as  the  others  in  the  tribute  to  me,  as  was  al- 
ways his  magnanimous  fashion,  but  I  could  see  no 
signs  in  his  face  of  the  yielding  which  I  had  prophe- 
sied. 

"  You  spoke  beautifully,"  said  Miss  Barden,  turning 
her  steel-blue  eyes  upon  me.  Then  I  remembered 
again  that  she  sat  by  me,  and  my  interest  in  her  re- 
vived as  she  added :  ''  It  was  just  as  I  would  have 
spoken  if  I  could." 

Then  I  called  to  mind  her  challenge  and  my  accept- 
ance. What  worthier  woman  indeed  would  I  be  likely 
to  Und  iu  the  world  than  she  ? 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Miss  Barden  of  course  accepted  my  invitation  to 
waltz.  With  my  arm  about  her  waist,  and  her  hand 
in  mine,  I  tried  to  hope  that  she  was  beginning  to  feel 
as  a  woman  does  when  her  nature  awakes  and  recog- 
nizes all  compelling  love.  She  danced  gracefully 
enough,  but  when  we  had  once  made  the  tour  of  the 
hall,  she  said : 

"  This  is  tiresome.  Why  waste  time  in  athletics, 
when  we  can  please  each  other  so  much  better  by 
talking." 

Without  a  word  of  remonstrance  I  offered  her  my 
arm,  and  we  left  the  floor.  She  drew  me  to  one  side 
where  a  winding  staircase  led  to  the  balcony  overlook- 
ing the  hall. 

"  Come  up  here,"  she  said.  "  We  can  see  everybody, 
and  I  will  tell  you  about  some  of  the  people.  I  am  not 
ripe  for  love  myself,  but  I  can  analyze  the  love  affairs 
of  others  so  as  to  interest  you.     Try  me." 

I  did  not  care  to  confess  my  disappointment  at  the 
preponderating  activity  of  the  intellectual  side  of  my 
companion,  but  in  fact  I  was  almost  discouraged  with 
her,  and  so  nearly  out  of  temper  that  I  was  disinclined 
to  talk.  I  was  more  than  willing  that  she  should  take 
upon  herself  the  chief  burden  of  the  conversation. 
Perhaps  she  would  reveal  some  weak  point  in  the  armor 
which  now  appeared  invulnerable. 

"  Do  3'ou  notice  the  young  man  with  black  mous- 
tache and  imperial?  Pie  stands  in  the  further  corner 
near  the  musicians'  platform,"  she  began. 

"  He  is  talking  very  earnestly  to  the  girl  in  black 


An  Exiyerhnent  in  Marriage*  185 

/ace,"  I  assented.     "  What  a  dazzling  white  complexion 
she  has." 

"  Yes.  Now  I  think  I  can  make  a  shrewd  guess  as 
to  what  the  young  man  is  saying  at  this  moment.  Do 
you  see  how  eagerly  he  bends  over  her  %  He  has  drawn 
her  a  little  apart  from  possible  listeners,  you  see." 

"  A  love  affair,  I  suppose." 

''  A  one-sided  one.  He  is  now  saying  something  like 
this:  *  Listen  to  me,  Annie,  I  want  you  to  leave  Mr. 
Bissell.  He  cannot  love  you  as  I  do.  He  is  too  old 
for  you,  too  conservative.  You  married  him  before 
you  knew  me.  You  admired  him,  I  suppose,  but  that 
isn't  love.'  So  much  for  what  he  is  saying.  Now  she 
is  answering  him." 

I  laughed.  "  She  seems  to  have  a  reply  ready.  She 
must  have  known  what  he  was  going  to  say.  Are 
you  wizzard  enough  to  guess  that  too  ?"" 

She  smiled  gaily.  "  This  is  what  she  is  saying :  *  It 
is  of  no  use,  Mr.  lloliins,  for  you  to  tell  me  thTs.  It 
isn't  true  that  Mr.  Bissell  is  merely  kind  and  good  to 
me.  I  am  sure  I  love  him,  though  I  am  not  dehrions 
over  him  as  you  would  probably  insist  I  should  be  over 
3'ou.  I  aui  not  of  the  extreme  demonstrative  sort. 
You  are  mistaken  in  thinking  you  want  me,  that  I 
could  make  you  or  that  you  could  make  me  happy. 
Now  let  us  finish  the  waltz.'  See  how  disappointed  he 
looks  as  he  offers  her  his  arm,  but  I  think  she  is  right 
and  has  married  the  man  best  suited  to  her." 

^'  This  is  very  instructive,"!  said.  ''  Can't  you  give 
me  some  more  of  these  modern  '  imaginary  conversa- 
tions?'" 

Miss  Barden  gave  me  a  sharp  glance.  * '  Please  under- 
stand that  I  know  the  relations  of  these  people,  and 
although  they  may  not  use  just  the  words  I  quote,  yet 
the  sentiment  is  exact.  Do  you  believe  me  or  not  ?  I 
do  not  prophecy  for  sceptics." 

"  I  believe,"  I  assented  with  an  attempt  at  an  humble 
expression 


186  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

"Do  you  observe  the  unamiable  countenance  of  the 
young  woman  sitting  on  the  rear  row  just  opposite 
us  ?  She  is  next  to  a  middle-aged  gentleman,  but  tliej 
are  not  in  conversation.  She  has  been  married  twice 
since  she  came  here,  but  both  marriages  wei'e  of  very 
short  duration.  I  doubt  if  she  will  have  another  oppor- 
tunity. That  very  man  who  sits  next  to  her  has  hud  a 
similar  experience  in  matrimony.  She  is  ill-tempered 
and  narrow-minded.  He  is  stupid  and  greedy.  Under 
the  marriage  institutions  of  civilization  each  of  them 
would  have  been  able  to  make  some  body  miserable  for 
life,  and,  worse  still,  would  have  transmitted  to  future 
generations  the  bad  qualities  which  here  will  die  with 
them." 

"  You  give  sexual  selection  a  fair  field  here,  to  be 
sure,"  I  assented,  more  seriously. 

"Yes.  That  great  force  for  human  progress  and  for 
the  development  of  the  species  works  with  us  in  two 
ways.  The  constant  necessity  is  upon  every  husband 
and  wife  here  to  keep  on  good  behavior  and  make 
the  best  of  natural  graces  or  talents  in  order  to  hold 
each  other^s  affection,  or,  losing  them,  to  win  the  love 
of  another.  Thus  the  race  is  improved  and  a  good 
heritage  of  character  and  attainment  for  the  children 
is  assured.  The  freedom  of  divorce  here  also  enlarges 
the  scope  of  sexual  selection  since  it  shuts  out  from  the 
lists  of  fathers  and  mothers  the  ill-favored  of  both 
sexes,  whose  defects  of  body,  mind  or  character  are 
thus  confined  to  their  own  generation." 

*'  You  are  very  interesting,"  I  said,  after  waiting  a 
few  moments  for  her  to  continue.  Her  keen  eyes 
flashed  hither  and  thither  in  search  of  more  material 
for  sketches. 

"  Do  you  see  your  friend,  Mr.  Ward  ? "  she  asked 
suddenly,  as  she  leaned  over  the  edge  of  the  balcony. 
^'  He  stands  by  the  pillar  at  the  other  side  of  the  room 
He  is  just  inviting  a  woman  in  black  to  dance  with 
him.     See  !  She  accepts.     I  have  noticed  your  friend 


An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage,  187 

devoting  himself  to  her  quite  frequently  of  late.  You 
do  not  suppose  his  heart  is  at  all  touched,  do  you  ?  JSlie 
is  Lydia  Trenk,  the  wife  of  one  of  our  board  of  direct- 
ors, one  of  those  phlegmatic  blondes,  cold,  slow  aiul 
stupid  I  should  say.  But  see  how  her  eyes  brigliten  as 
Mr.  Ward  talks  to  her.  Pie  must  talk  well.  Do  you 
notice  a  new  sprightliness  in  her  face  and  figure  ?  Per- 
haps he  is  the  one  man  in  Grape  Yalley  who  can  stir 
her  nature.  His  face  changes,  too.  It  has  lost  its 
mask  of  impassiveness.  A  new  color  comes  into  it. 
The  very  movements  of  his  liands  show  a  new  vivacity. 
Do  you  know  I  almost  suspect  that  your  friend  is  in 
love  in  spite  of  himself,  and  with  another  man's  wife." 

"It  is  impossible,"  I  exclaimed,  while  following 
with  ray  eye  every  detail  she  had  called  to  my  atten- 
tion. '•  Ward  hates  the  very  thought  of  your  peculiar 
institution." 

"  Oh,"  she  answered,  "I  do  not  claim  to  be  infalli- 
ble. Your  eyes  are  as  good  as  mine,  and  you  know 
the  character  and  peculiarities  of  your  friend  far  better 
^han  I.  But  see,  Mrs.  Trenk  accepts  his  invitation. 
How  proudly  he  bears  her  away.  He  is  happy  to  pos- 
sess her  even  for  so  short  a  time  as  a  dance.  Now  he 
puts  his  arm  around  her,  so  tenderly.  x\ll  he  worships 
on  the  earth  is  within  that  woman's  form.  I  am  sure 
of  it  now\" 

"  But,"  I  said,  "  my  friend  "Ward  has  never  cared 
for  women.  He  has  regarded  them  as  petty  in  their 
thoughts  and  narrow  in  their  souls.  I  have  known 
him  intimately  for  many  years,  and  I  have  never 
heard  him  yet  speak  ardently  of  any  woman." 

"Because,"  answered  Miss  Barden,  "he  has  not 
seen  woman  under  proper  conditions.  I  almost  wonder 
that  men  of  character  and  intellect  even  fall  in  love 
under  the  old  state  of  affairs.  The  physical  attraction 
of  sex,  however,  exists  under  all  conditions  and  cir- 
cumstances. If  all  women  were  deaf-mutes  it  would 
still  exist.     But  what  a  poor  apology  for  love  is  that. 


188  An  Experiment  m  Marriage. 

The  whole  brute  creation  is  subject  to  that  sort  of  at- 
traction, but  love  is  not  the  word  to  describe  it," 

"Men  of  intellect  and  character,"  I  suggested,  "  are 
famous  for  their  marital  infelicity.  Perhaps  Ward 
has  taken  warning." 

"  Do  you  blame  thera  ?  They  differ  from  others 
in  that  they  know  what  they  want.  When,  having 
risked  everything  to  secure  it,  they  find  they  have  it 
not,  and  that  they  are  forever  shut  out  from  the  oppor- 
tunity to  seek  for  it  elsewhere  without  disgrace,  is  it  a 
wonder  they  are  out  of  temper?  But,  speaking  of  Mr. 
Ward,  I  am  not  at  all  surprised  that  his  first  experi- 
ence of  woman  in  the  free  exercise  of  her  faculties 
and  accomplishments,  interests  him.  In  your  old 
world  young  v/omen  are  forbidden  by  your  laws  of 
propriety  to  be  free  and  unrestrained  in  their  de- 
meanor toward  men.  They  are  expected  to  pretend 
to  be  what  they  are  not,  or  what,  if  they  are,  offers  at- 
traction to  only  the  most  mediocre  o^  men.  ■  To  show 
as  little  individuality  as  possible  is  one  of  their  unwrit- 
ten rules ;  so,  I  suppose,  they  will  be  likely  to  offend 
no  possible  suitor.  They  may  not  have  but  a  single 
opportunity  to  obtain  that  great  end,  the  necessity  of 
their  existence  —  marriage,  and  any  striking  character- 
istic might  not  harmonize  with  that  possil)le  suitor's 
taste.  The}^  must  not  show  any  passion,  either.  They 
must  behave  as  if  the  whole  idea  of  sex  was  an  un- 
known world  to  which  the  husband's  expert  hand 
should  lead  them.  All  this  is  a  part  of  the  tradition 
of  centuries  that  marriage  is  the  sole  end  for  woman, 
and  that  indissoluble,  that  she  should  have  no  thoughts 
save  for  her  future  home,  no  feelings  except  for  that 
man  whom,  perhaps,  nothing  but  chance  association  has 
made  her  husband.  In  the  old  state  of  society  the 
fascinating  young  woman  is  that  exceptional  and  shock- 
inor  creature  who  thinks  her  own  thoughts,  feels  as  she 
likes  and  acts  as  slie  feels.  All  the  young  women  of 
Grape  Yalley  are  fascinating,  except  me." 


All  Exjperimeixt  in  Marriage^  189 

She  gave  me  an  arch  glance  as  she  corrected  herself, 
which  seemed  like  an  invitation  to  me  to  say  something 
lover-like.  But,  jndghig  it  best  not  to  make  any  digres- 
sion at  this  moment,  1  affected  not  to  have  noticed  her 
little  rnse,  and  objected  seriously : 

"You  have  explained  why  your  young  women  are 
irresistible  here,  but  not  why  my  friend  Ward  should 
be  fascinated  by  a  married  woman." 

Her  eyes  flashed  as  I  had  so  often  observed  them  to 
do  wlieu  a  bright  idea  occurred  to  her. 

"Except  in  the  ultra-fnshionable  or  literary  society 
of  the  leading  cities  of  the  outside  world,  a  woman 
ceases  to  be  of  any  account  after  marriage,  except  to 
her  husband  and  children.  And  even  in  the  fashion- 
able circles  of  society  her  limitations  are  comparatively 
strict.  She  is  hedged  in  from  all  directions.  To  be 
sure,  she  enjoys  something  which  might  almost  be 
called  liberty  as  compared  with  the  condition  of  her 
humbler  sisters.  Her  education,  her  cultivation,  her 
progress  do  not  entirely  stop  at  marriage.  The  attract- 
iveness of  the  married  vv^oman  in  the  old  society,  who 
by  virtue  of  outside  employment  profits  by  constant 
attrition  with  man,  and  increases  in  the  power  to  charm 
by  the  use  and  cultivation  of  her  charms,  shows  what 
even  a  small  degree  of  freedom  in  the  relations  of  mar- 
ried women  with  man  will  do  for  our  sex.'  Here  we 
have  perfect  freedom,  not  only  of  the  intellect,  but  of 
the  feelings.  Body  and  soul  we  are  our  own  mistresses. 
The  result  is  that  our  women,  charming  as  they  are 
before  marriage,  improve  with  every  year,  become 
more  interesting  with  every  experience.  Her  whole 
nature  progresses  together,  and  a  man  must  have  a 
brain  of  wood  and  a  body  of  stone  who  can  be  indif- 
ferent to  the  married  woman  of  Grape  Yalley." 

"You  are  very  enthusiastic  over  the  married  wo- 
man," I  said.  "1  should  think  j^ou  would  join  her 
ranks." 

"  So  I  would,"  she  answered,  lowering  her  voice,  "  if 


190  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

I  could  only  have  the  good  fortune  to  fall  in  love,  or 
even  to  imagine  myself  in  love.  If  I  understand  my- 
self aright  there  is  a  barrier  of  reserve  about  me  wliich 
curbs  my  spirit  and  limits  my  mtellectual  advancement. 
I  know  it,  but  nothing  except  the  enthusiasm  of  love 
can  break  down  that  barrier.  Intimacy  without  love 
would  not  do  it." 

"  Are  there  many  unmarried  women  in  the  hall  to- 
night ? "  I  asked. 

Her  bright  eyes  swept  the  room.  "  I  think  I  am  the 
only  one  here.  You  will  remember  our  young  girls 
are  still  at  school.  It  is  only  at  twenty-two  that  their 
education  is  ended  and  they  are  introduced  into  the 
full  light  and  liberty  of  Grape  Valley.  Each  one  of 
them  is  sure  to  have  some  admirer  almost  at  once,  and 
a  year  from  her  debut  it  is  hard  to  find  one  unmarried. 
Tlie  old  maid  is,  I  think,  an  improbability  at  Grape 
Yalley,  which  is  not  the  least  of  our  advantages.  That 
victim  of  circumstance  is,  so  far  at  least,  unknown 
here.  Every  woman  is  constantly  thrown  into  such 
free  relations  with  the  other  sex  that  it  is  only  a  matter 
of  time  when  she  must  meet  a  man  who  thinks  to  find 
w^hat  liis  nature  wants  in  her." 

Miss  Barden's  conversation  kept  my  brain  fairly 
aglow  with  excitement.  Every  sentence  she  uttered 
suggested  new  and  tempting  lines  of  thought.  She  did 
not  stir  my  blood  nor  quicken  my  pulses.  I  expe- 
rienced none  of  those  great  weaves  of  longing  I  had 
known  with  Kate.  But  was  not  this  a  better  and 
more  perfect  love?  She  w^as  beautiful  and  gracefuL 
There  would  certainly  be  nothing  to  desire  in  the  w^ay 
of  physical  attraction.  We  were  alone  in  the  balcony 
so  I  could  touch  her  hand  without  attracting  notice. 
She  did  not  draw  away  and  I  clasped  it  in  mine.  It 
lay  cool  and  nerveless  in  my  grasp,  and  she  turned  her 
eyes,  a  little  more  wdde  open  than  usual,  upon  my  face. 

''I  believe  you  mast  be  making  love  to  me,"  she 
said,  with  a  little  smile. 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  191 

"  I  would  like  the  privilege,"  I  eaid,  in  a  voice  as  cool 
as  her  own.     "  Will  you  be  my  wife  ?  " 

"Why  should  I  ?"  slie  asked,  looking  down  in  a  half- 
quizzical  fashion  at  her  hand  as  it  lay  in  mine.  "  Hike 
yoa  as  one  man,  I  suppose,  may  like  another.  But 
that  is  not  love.  And  for  that  matter,  if  you  love 
me,  then  all  signs  fail."  Then  she  drew  her  hand  away. 
"  This  is  growing  tiresome,"  she  said.  "  I  am  sure  I 
can  amuse  you  in  better  fashion.  You  see  that  tall, 
thin  gentleman  standing  just  at  the  corner  of  the 
stage  ? " 

"  He  seems  to  be  w^atching  the  dancers  very  intently," 
I  suggested,  trying  to  fall  in  with  her  humor. 

"  Say,  not  seems,  he  is.  It  is  his  wife  he  looks  at. 
You  see  the  woman  in  brown,  with  the  wavy  black 
hair,  dancing  with  a  portly  gentleman  in  a  wdiite  waist- 
coat? There  they  are  now,  just  under  the  chandelier. 
She  smiles  back  at  her  hut^band.  See  the  wonderful 
light  come  into  his  face.  If  you  could  look  at  me  like 
that,  just  once,  I  might  believe  you  loved  me.  Let 
me  tell  you  something  about  that  man  and  w^oman. 
They  are  both  considerably  past  middle  life.  Both 
have  been  married  more  than  once  before,  and  have 
been  the  parents  of  children.  Noav,  for  the  first  time, 
they  are  happy.     They  are  all  in  all  to  each  other." 

"  What  was  their  attraction  for  each  other,  do  you 
suppose?"  I  asked. 

'^  It  would  take  an  unerring  psychologist  to  say  why 
any  man  and  woman  should  or  should  not  love  one  an- 
other," answered  Miss  Barden.  "  Certain  qualities  are 
in  themselves  attractive  —  beauty  and  grace,  sweetness 
of  temper  ;  and  first  marriages  are  contracted  most 
commonly  in  consequence  of  these  qualities.  Awdc- 
w^ardness,  inharmonious  features,  obstinate  or  sullen 
tempers  are  in  themselves  repelling.  Still,  love  stays 
or  goes  without  reference  to  outward  attractions.  The 
plainest  women  often,  most  often  it  seems  to  me,  are 
the  objects  of  the  most  passionate  devotion.    Men  with 


192  An  Exjyeriment  in  Marriage, 

unattractive  features  are  among  the  most  irresistible 
with  onr  sex.  Perliaps  it  is  a  matter  of  magnetic  cur- 
rents. Perhaps  it  is  a  matter  of  spiritual  insight,  the 
gvo])ing  of  the  soul  for  that  other  nature  which  will 
enable  it  to  complete  itself.  Perhaps  each  nature  is 
dual,  as  in  so  many  plants,  male  and  female.  Its 
halves  are  separated,  and  ever  reaching  out  for  the 
union  which  is  their  perfection,  a  union,  spiritual,  in- 
tellectual and  physical.  This  reaching  out  for  comple- 
tion is  called  desire.  This  perfect  union,  wdien  at- 
tained, is  perfect  love.  The  more  or  less  perfect,  and 
more  or  less  lasting  unions,  give  us  ^tastes  of  love. 
Love,  in  perfection,  comes  only  with  the  perfect 
union."  Then  she  rose.  ''It  is  growing  late,"  she 
said,  "  I  must  bid  you  good  night." 

I  rose,  too,  and  we  passed  through  the  hall  into  the 
corridoi'.  ''  Will  you  step  out  and  enjoy  the  moonlight 
for  a  moment  r'*'  I  asked.  And  without  a  word  she 
rested  her  hand  on  my  arm. 

We  had  passed  up  the  street  for  a  few  rods  before  I 
spoke.  By  this  time  I  was  sufficiently  excited  to 
assure  myself  that  I  was  in  love.  I  did  not  know,  after 
repeated  failures,  how  to  plirase  my  declaration  so  she 
should  listen  to  me.  She  liked  me,  she  was  interested 
in  me.  But  her  physical  nature  had  not  as  yet  awoke 
to  the  existence  of  mine.  I  paused  and  as  she  turned 
toward  me,  I  passed  my  arm  about  her  waist  and  di-ew 
her  toward  me. 

"  Are  you  going  to  ^valtz  out  here  ?  "  she  murmured 
in  some  confusion. 

"No,"  I  said,  and  my  voice  trembled,  "I  am  going 
to  kiss  you."  I  bent  my  face  toward  hers  until  1  felt 
her  breath  come  faster  and  warmer  on  my  cheek.  My 
lips  touched  hers,  as  soft  and  sw^eet  as  the  petals  of 
some  rare  rose.  There  was  an  instant  of  resistance, 
then  she  returned  my  kiss,  and  gave  a  beautiful  move- 
ment toward  me,  while  her  eyes  sank  before  mine. 

It  was  surrender. 


A71  Experiment  in  Marriage,  193 

"  Is  this  love  ? "  she  whispered  at  last,  as  she  lifted 
her  eyes  toward  mine  with  a  new  expression  in  them. 

How  could  I  answer  her,  but  witli  another  kiss? 

"  Then  it  is  very  beautiful,"  she  said.  ''  I  only  hope 
it  is  forever.  I  think  I  have  only  Jived  since  you 
kissed  me." 

The  next  month  we  were  married. 
25 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

It  was  a  very  short  honeymoon  for  Gertrude  and  me. 
As  I  look  back  upon  it  now,  I  can  see  that  I  was  at  no 
time  more  than  a  little  in  love  with  her.  There  was  a 
great  deal  in  common  between  us.  She  was  interested 
in  the  same  sort  of  subjects  that  interested  me,  and  her 
mind  worked  by  much  the  same  method  as  mine.  We 
agreed  in  our  judgment  of  men  and  tilings  as  I  have 
never  agreed  with  man  or  woman  before  or  since.  I 
would,  of  course,  have  been  a  very  unappreciative  man 
if  the  possession  of  such  a  beautiful  woman  was  not 
very  pleasing  to  me ;  and  the  imitation  of  love  I  offered 
her  I  believe  I  could  have  kept  up  for  an  indefinite 
period  if  she  had  continued  as  ardent  and  enthusiastic 
as  during  the  first  few  weeks  of  our  married  life.  As 
I  think  of  it  now  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  it  was 
her  very  fear  lest  her  passion  should  not  last  that  made 
her  at  first  so  breathless  in  her  devotion.  She  could 
not  bear  to  awake  from  her  dream  of  love  and  find  it  a 
delusion,  and,  so  to  speak,  willfully  drugged  herself. 

It  was  before  our  brief  honeymoon  was  far  advanced 
that  I  discovered  my  friend  Ward  was  avoiding  me. 
I  determined  to  have  an  explanation  with  him  at 
once,  and  seeing  him  start,  one  afternoon,  on  what  I 
thought  one  of  his  long  walks,  I  excused  myself  to  my 
wife  and  started  in  pursuit.  I  kept  at  such  a  distance 
as  to  make  his  immediate  discovery  of  me  improbable, 
as  I  did  not  want  him  to  see  me  until  well  up  the  val- 
le}^  When  Ward  was  very  obstinate  it  sometimes  re- 
quired considerable  time  to  bring  him  to  reason,  and  I 
was  anxious  to  overtake  him  where  he  could  not  get 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  195 

awaj  from  me  until  I  had  said  all  I  had  to  saj.  I  fol- 
lowed him  lip  one  street  and  down  another  in  what  I 
was  sure  was  not  the  direct  course  to  either  tlie  moun- 
tains or  the  country.  Could  it  be  he  had  discovered  I 
was  following  him  and  was  bent  on  giving  me  a  wild 
goose  chase  ?  When  he  finally  turned  up  a  short 
street  that  had  no  opening  at  the  other  end  I  became 
sure  he  was  tricking  me.  So  instead  of  plunging 
blindly  on  I  waited  at  some  distance  from  the  corner 
for  him  to  come  back. 

In  vain  I  waited.  Seconds  had  become  minutes, 
when  it  suddenly  occurred  to  me  tliat  there  might  be 
some  path,  unknown  to  me,  leading  from  the  other  end 
of  what  I  had  thought  a  blind  street.  If  so,  he  had 
escaped^  me,  unless  I  made  up  in  speed  what  I  had 
lacked  in  brains.  So  I  walked  rapidly  up  to  the  cor- 
ner, and  when,  glancing  up  the  street,  I  saw  no  one,  I 
exchanged  my  walk  for  a  run.  Suddenly  the  door  in 
one  of  the  houses  just  beyond  me  opened,  and  a  man 
and  woman  came  out.  The  woman  was  Mrs.  Trenk, 
and  the  man  no  other  than  Ward  himself.'  He  had  a 
light  wrap  of  hers  over  his  arm,  and  she  carried  a  sort 
of  alpinstock  in  her  hand.  It  was  apparent  enough 
they  were  just  setting  out  for  a  mountain  ramble. 
AU  that  Gertrude  had  said  about  Ward  and  this 
woman  recurred  to  njy  mind.  There  could  be  no 
doubt  of  the  correctness  of  my  wife's  conclusion.  He 
was  in  love,  and  expounder  and  upholder  of  old  world 
traditions  that  he  was,  in  love  with  another  man's 
wife. 

My  position  had  now  become  a  very  embarrassing 
one.  Looking  ahead  I  could  see  no  outlet  from  the 
street,  and  even  if  there  had  been  one  I  could  not  have 
escaped  through  it  without  passing  Ward  and  his  com- 
panion, which  would,  of  course,  strike  them  as  a  very 
suspicious  performance.  It  only  remained  for  me  to 
turn  about  and  hurry  back  the  way  I  had  come,  trust- 
ing, through  )Si^^  friend's  absorption  in  his  sweetheart, 


196  An  Experimeni  in  Mamage,  ' 

to  be  unnoticed.  I  heard  their  steps  behind  me  and 
would  have  given  a  great  deal  if  I  could  have  known 
their  eyes  were  not  fixed  on  my  back,  as  I  seemed  to 
feel  they  were.  I  think  that  length  of  sidewalk  to  the 
corner  was  the  most  uncomfortable  stretch  I  ever  trav- 
eled. Every  instant  I  expected  to  hear  Ward's  voice 
hailing  me,  and  wlien  it  came  at  last  I  actually  think  it 
gave  me  a  certain  sensation  of  relief.  My  suspense 
was  over  at  all  events. 

*'  Is  that  you,  Yinton  ?  " 

Of  course,  all  I  could  do  was  to  stop,  turn  and  af- 
fect as  much  surprise  as  I  could  reconcile  with  my 
dread  of  appearing  ridiculous. 

"  Isn't  this  an  unusual  direction  for  your  walk  ?  "  he 
asked,  in  a  very  satirical  tone.  ''  Or  were  you  looking 
for  something  ?  Mrs.  Trenk,  permit  me  to  present 
my  friend  and  well-wisher,  Mr.  Yinton." 

It  was,  of  course,  as  I  had  feared.  He  beheved  I 
was  prying  into  his  love  affairs.  Between  my  surprise 
at  what  I  had  discovered  and  my  anxiety  to  have  it 
known  that  I  had  not  come  in  search  of  that  knowl- 
edge, I  was  taken  completely  at  a  disadvantage.  My 
confusion  seemed  like  confession,  which  of  course 
heightened  my  discomfort,  and  to  cap  the  climax,  the 
lady  began  to  blush  furiously,  which  intensified  Ward's 
indignation. 

"I  will  tell  you  this  evening  all  which  you  appear 
to  want  to  know,"  he  exclaimed,  nearer  hating  me,  I 
could  see,  than  ever  before  in  his  life.  They  passed  me 
without  another  word. 

Of  course  I  confided  my  miser}^  to  my  wife,  but  I 
have  doubted  whether  one  ever  gets  consolation  by  con- 
fiding his  humiliating  experiences  to  any  one.  He  is 
conscious  of  having  humiliated  himself  once  more,  and 
unnecessarily,  and  he  is  inclined  to  believe  that  his  con- 
fidant either  pities  or  despises  him.  But  Gertrude  car- 
ried it  off  very  well.  She  laughed  heartily  at  my  pre- 
dicament, thus  relieving  me  of  the  more  trying  sus- 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  197 

picion  that  she  wanted  to  laugh  at  me,  but  restrained 
her  merrhnent  out  of  regard  for  my  feelings.  Then 
she  told  me  that  Mr.  Ward  had  no  cause  for  such  sen- 
sitiveness, except  it  was  supplied  by  his  own  conscience. 
A  hundred  people  could  and  must  have  seen  him  take 
Mrs.  Trenk  on  the  mountain  walk,  and  there  was  noth- 
ing startling  in  the  affair  according  to  Gra23e  Yalley 
ideas,  either,  except  that  he  seemed  to  look  on  it  as 
such  himself.  She  was  inclined  to  think  that  my 
fi'iend  was  on  the  eve  of  yielding  his  traditions,  and 
conforming  to  the  customs  of  the  colony.  She  told  me 
that  she  could  hardly  wait  until  evening  to  learn  the 
truth. 

Although  Ward  entered  the  general  hall  after  din- 
ner, looking  very  stern,  Gertrude  urged  me  to  go  to 
him  at  once.  He  received  me  very  stiffly,  and  proposed 
that  I  come  to  his  room.  Once  there  he  even  so  far 
forgot  himself  as  to  neglect  to  take  or  offer  a  cigar. 
Ko  sooner  were  we  seated  than  he  exclaimed  ; 

"  I  suppose  you  imagine  I  am  going  to  break  the 
law  of  the  land  and  the  traditions  of  civilization,  be- 
cause you  do  it  so  easily.  But  you  are  as  absolutely 
wrong  in  what  you  imagine  I  am  about  to  do,  as  in 
what  you  are  doing  yourself." 

''What  do  you  think  I  imagine  about  you?"  I  de- 
manded. 

''You  imagine  that  because  I  take  pleasure  in  the 
society  of  one  woman  in  Grape  Yalley  that  I  am  in 
love  with  her.  It  is  false,"  he  fairly  shouted.  "  I  don't 
know  what  the  word  love  means."' 

"  Before  we  go  any  farther.  Ward,"  I  began,  anxious 
to  show  him  I  had  not  been  spying  upon  him,  "  let  me 
assure  you " 

"  I  want  you  to  hear  me  now,"  he  said,  almost  fiercely, 
"and  I  only  wish  all  Grape  Valley  had  one  ear  that 
all  could  hear  it  at  once. .  I  would  sooner  cut  off  my 
right  hand  than  fall  in  with  the  practices  of  these 
people.     Can't  I  talk  to  a  woman  without  schemino-to 


198  A7i  ExjpeTiment  in  Marriage. 

win  lier  heart  ?  Can't  a  woman  enjoy  the  conversation 
of  a  man  who  has  thought  and  studied  and  traveled, 
without  being  anxious  to  leave  her  husband  for 
him  \ " 

"  I  don't  know  that  any  one  suspects  you  of  being 
in  love,"  I  answered,  mendaciously.  But  1  was  begin- 
ning to  become  indignant  at  his  manner  and  corrected 
myself  rather  significantly,  "  or  at  least  that  anybody 
would  suspect  you  of  being  in  love  if  you  did  not  do 
so  much  protesting." 

He  gave  me  an  indignant  look  and  then  rose  and 
paced  the  floor  without  replying.  I  made  use  of  the 
opportunity  to  offer  the  true  explanation  of  my  pursuit 
of  him,  and  he  said,  more  mildly : 

*'  Well,  well,  I  did  not  think  you  meant  anything 
cowardly  or  underhanded,  my  boy.  I  only  thought 
you  were  trying  to  make  sure  of  my  being  a  fool  so  you 
could  try  to  advise  me.  Everybody  advises  a  man  in 
love.  1  have,  as  you  remember,  attempted  to  advise 
you.  But  I  am  "not  in  love.  Don't  you  suppose  I 
know  myself?  Do  you  suppose  I  have  lived  to  be 
forty-eight  and  have  met  the  most  beautiful  and  fasci- 
nating women  of  America  without  a  heart  pang,  now  to 
fall  a  victim  to  the  tender  passion  here  ?  Here  of  all 
places  I  should  most  avoid  it." 

"  She  is  a  pretty  woman,"  I  remarked,  rather  incon- 
sequently. 

*'  Pretty  ?  "  he  repeated,  stopping  in  his  walk  just 
opposite  me.  "  That  is  a  cheap  word  to  apply  to  such 
a  woman  as  that.  I  am  ashamed  of  you.  Why  the 
woman  has  a  face  an  artist  would  go  wild  over.  That 
divine  calm,  that  serenity,  that  expression  of  assured 
power.  Pretty,  indeed  !  Did  you  ever  see  such  eyes, 
black,  brown,  almost  bronze,  by  turns  ?  But  her  beauty 
is  the  least  of  her  charms.  She  seems  to  understand 
what  one  means  almost  by  intuition,  all  that  one  means, 
not  a  tithe  of  it,  as  most  of  the  sex  do.  And  her 
answers  show  how  much  more  deeply  she  feels  one's 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  199 

thoughts  than  he  can  do  himself.  Any  man  might  well 
love  her." 

"  Does  her  husband  ?  "  I  asked,  significantly. 

"  Her  husband  ?  Don't  mention  him,"  exclaimed 
Ward,  throwing  himself  into  his  chair.  "  How  such  a 
woman  came  to  mai-ry  such  a  man  is  one  of  the  mys- 
teries. To  liim  she  is,  apparent]}^,  nothing  more  than 
other  women.  He  sees  her  beauty;  none  but  a  blind 
man  could  help  doing  so  much;  her  gentle  spirit,  her 
sweetness  of  disposition  give  him  no  cause  of  offense. 
But  her  marvelous  sympathies,  her  rare  responsiveness, 
he  cannot  appreciate." 

"Perhaps,"  I  suggested,  "she  does  not  have  them 
for  hmi." 

"  Sometimes  I  think  so,"  continued  my  friend,  un- 
conscious how  his  manner  was  giving  the  lie  to  his  as- 
sertion that  he  did  not  love  Lydia  Trenk.  "  It  has 
often  occurred  to  me  that  it  might  be  because  I  called 
out  these  qualities  that  I  see  them;  that  they  were  not 
there  for  others;  that  she  herself,  perhaps,  did  not  once 
suspect  she  had  them." 

"  Tell  me  who  she  is  and  where  she  came  from,"  I 
said,  "  if  you  know.  Did  she  marry  this  unappreciative 
husband  in  Grape  Yalley  ?  " 

"  No,"  answered  Ward  lover-like  eagerly  accepting 
the  opportunity^  to  talk  about  her.  "  They  were  mar- 
ried three  years  before  the  Grape  Yalley  experiment 
was  inaugurated.  She  was  a  poor  girl  working  in  this 
Trenk' s  shop,  reduced  to  poverty  by  the  loss  of  her 
father.  This  man  offered  her  marriage,  and,  although 
she  tells  me  she  did  not  know  what  love  meant,  she  ac- 
cepted him.  He  gave  her  comfort  where  she  suffered 
hardship  before,  a  home  instead  of  the  wretched  tene- 
ment in  which  she  and  her  invalid  mother  had  lived. 
He  enabled  her  to  surround  her  mother  again  with 
the  elegancies  of  life,  and  make  the  few  months  which 
the  poor  widow  had  to  live,  happy  ones.  Mr.  Trenk 
was  very  much  interested  in  industrial  reform,  and  an 


200  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

extreme  radical  in  his  ideas,  so  lie  came  with  his  wife 
to  Grape  Valley.  Here  thej  have  lived  ever  since. 
Although  other  men  have  sought  to  win  her  love  she 
has  been  faithful  to  her  husband.  She  enjoys  the  free- 
dom of  social  intercourse  afforded  here,  and  which,  she 
says,  makes  women  far  brighter,  something  beside 
household  drudges  and  nurses  for  children." 

"  Has  she  any  children  %  " 

"  Yes,  two.  She  spends  most  of  her  afternoons  with 
theni  at  the  nursery.  I  think  for  that  matter,"  con- 
tinued Ward,  "  I  never  saw  mothers  more  tender 
toward  their  children,  or  more  happy  with  them  than 
the  women  here.  The  little  ones  are  no  longer  burdens 
or  cares.  The  mothers  do  not  dread  their  advent,  or 
bewail  their  number." 

Yerily  my  friend  Ward's  eyes  were  being  opened. 

''  But  I  was  telling  you,"  he  continued,  "  how  true 
she  has  been  to  her  husband,  in  spite  of  all  tempta- 
tions." 

"  Possibly  she  has  had  no  temptations,"  I  suggested; 
^•'  a  woman  not  in  love  is  not  like  a  man  —  uneasy  until 
she  is." 

''I  do  not  believe  she  would  do  a  wrong  thing  under 
any  circumstances,"  said  Ward,  very  decidedly. 

"  Then  you  think  it  would  be  wrong,  do  you,  if  she 
fell  in  love  with  some  other  man  ?  If  love  is  a  matter 
of  mutual  attraction  and  sympathy,  she  ought  not  to  be 
blamed  if  it  befall  her." 

"  Her  offense  would  not  be  in  loving  another  man, 
but  in  yielding  herself  to  the  dictates  of  her  passion  ; 
that  I  am  sure  she  would  not  do,"  insisted  Ward. 

"  Aren't  you  in  error  there?"  I  demanded.  "  Does 
a  wife  remain  faithful  to  her  husband  when  she  loves 
another,  instead  of  him  ?  Is  it  not  the  withdrawal  of 
the  love  which  really  breaks  the  marriage  relation  and 
commits  the  unfaithfulness,  instead  of  the  withdrawal 
of  the  wife's  presence  merely  ?  " 

Ward  was  apparently  preparing  himself  for  a  reply 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  201 

wliicli  should  take  to  task  the  whole  sexual  relation  of 
the  valley.  But  before  giving  him  an  opportunity  to 
reply,  I  said : 

"  By  the  way,  why  is  it  you  have  been  avoiding  nie 
lately  ?  You  and  I  have  not  been  friends  for  ten  years 
to  be  separated  by  any  trilie  now.  Have  I  trodden  on 
your  toes  without  knowing  it  ?  What  have  I  said  or 
done  ? " 

I  might  have  suspected  that  Ward  could  have  but 
one  reason  for  his  altered  manner,  and  have  known 
that  by  asking  for  it  I  was  inviting  him  to  open  fire 
with  all  the  arguments  in  his  logical  armory. 

"  I  should  not  have  presumed  so  far  on  our  friend- 
ship as  to  have  volunteered  what  you  now  invite  me 
to  say.  I  felt  shocked  by  your  remarrying.  You  were 
not  at  fault  because  Kate  deserted  yon,  but  wdien  you 
married  your  second  wife,  you  destroyed  my  confi- 
dence in  you  —  almost  my  respect  for  you.  You  are 
breaking  laws  which  have  prevailed  in  society  since  the 
dawn  of  history.  I  would  not  have  expected  such 
recklessness  of  you." 

I  straightened  myself  in  my  chair,  and  prepared 
for  the  battle.  I  w^as  determined  that  my  friend 
should  not  believe  that  I  had  transgressed  what  he 
called  eternal  laws  through  weakness.  *'  I  am  glad 
you  have  spoken  frankly,"  I  said.  *'  I  will  speak  just 
as  frankly.  So  far  as  the  transgression  of  laws  goes 
you  must  not  forget  that  I  am  acting  in  accordance 
with  the  laws  of  the  settlement  where  we  live.  This 
is  a  State  within  a  State,  making  its  own  laws  touch- 
ing all  matters,  without  reference  to  the  constitution 
or  statute  book  of  any  central  authority  whatever. 
You  may  consider,  if  you  please,  this  settlement  as 
in  a  state  of  rebellion  against  some  central  authority 
claiming  but  not  enfoi'cing  jurisdiction  over  it.  Grape 
Yalley  pays  no  taxes  to  other  governments,  votes  for 
no  representatives  or  governors,  and  recognizes  no 
courts  or  codes  except  its  own.  This  is  an  inde- 
26 


202  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

pendent  State,  and  laws  passed  by  it  are  of  as  much 
force  upon  the  inhabitants  of  this  State,  as  laws  passed 
by  the  law-making  authorities  of  any  other  State  else- 
where. As  other  States  have  a  right  to  regulate  the 
marriage  and  divorce  laws  for  their  people,  so  the  con- 
stitutional authorities  here  have  the  same  right  over  the 
people  of  Grape  Yalley.  In  some  States  divorce  is 
granted  only  for  adultery  or  cruelty,  desertion,  intoxi- 
cation or  failure  to  support.  In  others  divorce  isso 
easy  to  obtain  that  it  is  little  more  than  an  unpleasant 
process,  merely  leaving  a  stigma  on  those  availing  them- 
selves of  it.  The  State  of  Grape  Valley  being  de  facto 
independent  has  the  same  right  to.  regulate  marriage 
and  divorce  for  its  people  as  the  government  of  any 
other  States." 

I  could  see  my  friend  was  somewhat  surprised  at  my 
line  of  defense.  He  had  apparently  expected  nothing 
of  the  sort.     I  resumed  : 

"If  I  regulate  my  life  by  the  institutions  and  law^s 
of  the  de  facto  independent  State  I  abide  in,  what 
more  can  be  asked?  You  may  still  insist  that  if  those 
laws  are  inexpedient  or  wicked  ones,  thej^  provide  no 
excuse  for  the  moral  being.  You  ^vill  claim  that,  as 
it  has  often  been  a  duty  in  the  course  of  history  to 
disobey  wicked  laws,  so  laws,  unless  justified  by  our 
own  conscience  and  reason,  do  not  justify  us  in  wdiat 
w^e  may  do.  As  to  the  religious  aspect  of  this  ques- 
tion I  will  merely  say  that  the  eternal  principle  of 
Christianity  is  universal  brotherly  love.  So  far  as 
specific  social  injunctions  in  the  gospel  go,  they  may 
be  regarded  as  intended  for  application  to  the  state  of 
society  existing  when  promulgated.  Under  the  condi- 
tions of  society  existing  wlien  the  gospel  was  promul- 
gated, and,  indeed,  under  the  conditions  of  society 
existing  in  the  outside  world  to-day,  divorce  is  most 
dangerous  and  destructive.  Here  we  have  done  away 
with  those  conditions,  and  through  freedom  of  divorce 
we  are  able  to  fulfill  the  essential  doctrines  of  Christ 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  203 

infinitely  better  than  without  it.  If  you  still  insist  on 
confining  society  to  what  is  known  as  scriptural  di- 
vorce, I  must  send  you  to  the  law-making  powers  of 
the  so-called  Christian  States  and  nations,  many  of 
which  have  a  State  church,  but  most  of  which  have 
laws  on  their  statute  books  contrary  to  this  very 
scriptural  limit  to  divorce.  At  the  courts  of  those 
Christian  governments  which  nullify  the  injunctions 
of  the  head  of  their  church,  you  may  serve  as  a 
prophet  to  turn  them  from  their  heresy.  But  here  we 
have  carried  the  Christian  principle  so  infinitely  be- 
yond the  example  of  the  rest  of  society,  that,  as  the 
greater  includes  the  less,  so  the  spirit  overrules  the 
Tetter." 

Ward  was  prepared,  as  I  paused  to  catch  my  breath, 
with  an  objection  on  the  general  ground  of  morality 
and  reason. 

"  But  you  are  violating  the  practice  of  civilized  peo- 
ple since  the  Christian  era,"  he  said.  ''That  practice 
was  not  founded  on  laws  nor  religion  alone,  but  on 
the  general  sense  of  what  was  best  and  most  expe- 
dient. The  laws  permitting  divorce  have  been  onlj'- 
to  a  very  limited  extent  availed  of,  and  the  stigma  of 
shame  and  obloquy  has  rested  in  a  great  degree  upon 
those  who  have  taken  advantage  of  them." 

"Most  certainly,"  I  continued.  "But  do  you  not 
see  you  are  supplying  an  argument  for  me  instead  of 
presenting  one  against  me  ?  If  I  appeared  in  the  out- 
side world  as  an  advocate  of  free  divorce  you  might 
well  cj^uote  the  unwritten  law  against  me  and  my  dan- 
gerous doctrines.  You  might  say  that  the  feeling  of 
all  virtuous  people  was  sufficient  proof  that  I  was 
wrong.  I  might,  if  on  such  a  mission,  well  be  regarded 
as  a  social  incendiary,  as  a  corrupter  of  society,  an  enemy 
of  the  family  and  of  the  home.  But  please  remember 
the  feeling  of  the  best  people  of  a  communit}^  against  a 
course  of  behavior  is  an  argument  against  that  course 
only  in  that  community.   It  is  not  among  the  old  social 


204  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

institutions,  wliich  are  so  much  like  a  pile  of  children's 
blocks,  that  if  jou  removed  one  at  the  base  all  would 
topple  to  the  ground,  that  I  would  urge  a  system  of 
free  divorce.  I  agree  with  you  that  the  family  is  the 
sub-stratum  of  the  old  social  order,  and  that  sub-stratum 
is  only  protected  by  preserving  marriage  as  practically 
indissoluble.  The  violations  of  morality  are  innumer- 
able, but  better  those  than  worse  which  would  follow 
the  license  of  free  divorce.  Marriage  is  called  a  failure 
because  in  so  many  families  husband  and  wife  are  little 
more  than  business  partners  at  best,  and  love,  which 
liopeth  all  things,  believeth  all  things,  understandeth 
all  things,  only  a  vague  dream  of  the  past,  or  a  mad- 
dening possibility  with  some  other  man  or  v/oman  as 
its  object.  But  better  that,  than  that  society  should 
crumble  and  social  anarchy  set  in  ;  better  that  than  that 
infinite  suffering  be  brought  on  innocent  children,  that 
women  be  kft  without  means  of  livelihood  and  men 
without  home  influences  or  social  restraints.  The  old 
civilization  is  doing  wisely  in  fighting  for  an  indissolu- 
ble marriage  tie.  If  I  were  in  its  bounds  now,  no  one 
would  fight  harder  for  it  than  I.  But  here  everything 
is  changed.  The  woman  is  equal  to  the  man  in  her 
capacity  for  self-support.  Children  are  taken  care  of 
by  the  State,  full  privilege  to  enjoy  them  being  allowed 
their  parents.  All  the  members  of  tliis  society,  married 
or  unmarried,  have  homes,  comforts  and  entertainment. 
So  it  is  here  for  the  first  time  in  history  that  the  mar- 
riage relation  may  be  regarded  as  temporary,  if  the 
inclinations  of  the  parties  are  temporary.  For  the  first 
time  love  is  admitted  to  its  full  scope  and  power  as  a 
cliief  agent  for  happiness,  for  education,  for  progress. 
For  the  first  time  women  are  relieved  of  the  domestic 
burdens  and  motherly  cares  which  in  the  world  at  large 
shut  them  in  as  w4th  a  black  veil  so  soon  after  the  white 
veil  of  bridal.  For  the  first  time  their  education  and 
enjoyment  of  life  in  its  broader  scope,  and  their  influence 
upon  society  continue  ^er  marriage.     For  the  first 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  205 

time  are  men  always  kept  under  the  stimulating  in- 
fluence of  love.  As  is  so  seldom  the  case  m  the  outside 
world,  children  are  bronght  forth  here  under  conditions 
most  conducive  to  intellect  and  elevation  of  soul ;  off- 
sprino-  of  an  affectionate  father,  and  of  a  mother  m  a 
state ''of  mental  culture  and  activity,  such  as  only  the 
favored  mothers  of  all  the  centuries  past  have  possessed. 
All  the  conditions  which  exist  in  the  old  world  are 
chancred  here.  What  would  have  been  and  what  would 
be  mischievous,  even  fatal  under  those  economicalcon- 
ditions,  becomes  useful  and  progressive  here.  What 
would  have  been  wrong  there  becomes  ^ght  here. 

I  glanced  at  my  watch.  It  was  10 :  30,  the  hour  at 
which  the  reception  in  the  hall  below  closed.  I  rose, 
bade  my  friend  a  hasty  good-bye,  and  went  down  to 
join  Gertrude. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

After  Gertrude  and  I  had  returned  to  our  own  home 
that  night,  and  she  had  laid  off  her  hat,  she  seated  her- 
self by  my  side  and  turned  her  bright  face  toward  me. 

"Now  tell  me  all  about  it,"  she  said,  as  she  took  my 
hand  in  both  of  hers  and  leaned  toward  me. 

My  mental  attitude  toward  her  was  all  admiration. 
Her  delicate  features  illumined  with  splendid  life,  her 
lithe  but  well-proportioned  figure  pleased  my  eye  as 
nothing  I  had  ever  seen  before.  That  I  should  have 
won  her  love,  that  1  should  be  the  object  of  her  new 
born  passion,  was  very  delightful  to  me.  Every  faculty 
in  me  responded  to  the  flattery,  and  there  are  few 
emotions  more  agreeable  than  those  engendered  by 
flattery.  I  was  not  filled  with  a  worship  for  her,  I  was 
not  agonized  with  that  longing  to  be  nearer  to  her,  to 
bathe  my  soul  in  hers,  which  is  at  once  the  pain,  the 
proof  and  the  purpose  of  love.  1  could  coolly  observe 
her  varied  beauties,  her  intellectual  graces,  her  spirit- 
ual charms,  and  say  they  were  good.  I  could  study 
each  symptom  of  her  novel  experience  of  love,  and 
analyze  each  manifestation  of  the  rising  and  subsiding 
movement  of  her  emotions,  as  no  rapt  lover  could  do. 

Her  hands  that  clasped  mine  and  fondled  them 
caressingly  were  as  soft  as  silk,  as  pliant,  as  full  of 
vitality  as  if  they  had  a  life  and  soul  of  their  own. 
How  delicately  the  fingers  tapered  ;  the  pink  tipped 
crescents  at  their  ends  were  more  like  shells  than  nails. 
Her  wrist,  slight,  but  perfectly  rounded,  was  a  model 
of  delicacy  and  strength,  and  as  her  lace  sleeve  fell 
back,  now  and  then  was  revealed  the  blue-white  gleam 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  207 

of  lier  exquisite  forearm.  Then  the  proud  arch  of  her 
neck  expanded  at  its  base  into  the  perfect  curves  of  the 
ideal  woman's  shoulders  and  bosom;  her  hair  coiled 
low  on  the  back  of  iier  queenly  head,  was  as  black  as 
night  and  as  smooth  as  a  southern  sea  before  a  hur- 
ricane; her  forehead  broad  between  the  temples,  was 
unruffled  by  line  or  wrinkle,  like  the  front  of  Jove,  I 
thought.  Then  I  looked  calmly  into  her  eyes,  a  dark 
hazel  in  color,  with  capacity  to  show  the  slightest  shade 
of  feeling,  to  burn  with  unutterable  passion,  to  soften 
in  pity,  to  dilate  in  sympathy,  to  brighten  with  in- 
terest, to  repose  in  intense  thought,  to  leap  in  conver- 
sation like  the  dancing  rivulet  over  its  bed  of  gray- 
brown  pebbles.  She  was  mine  in  all  her  perfections, 
the  most  complete  example  of  womanhood  I  had  ever 
seen.  She  had  lacked  but  one  thing  before,  the  en- 
thusiasm of  love.  Now  that  had  come  and  I  was  the 
object  of  it. 

I  think  her  love  for  me  was  that  night  at  its  culmi- 
nation. We  were  nearer  to  each  other  than  ever  before. 
She  was  happy  in  her  passion  for  me.  I  was  so  de- 
lighted and  proud  that  it  was  almost  like  love. 

For  a  long  time  we  sat  there  while  1  told  her  all  I 
had  learned  from  my  friend  Ward,  and  all  I  had  said 
to  him,  and  we  talked  of  him  and  his  future,  and  then 
passed  on  to  other  themes.  She  had  never  impressed  me 
as  so  marvelous  a  woman  before.  She  seemed  to  under- 
stand everything  before  I  had  half  expressed  it.  She 
seemed  to  guess  my  meaning  before  I  spoke.  It  was 
as  if  our  minds  had  thrown  away  the  weak  intermedi- 
ary of  words  and  dealt  directly  with  each  other. 

But  from  that  night  I  began  to  notice  a  change.  It 
was  a  slow  change.  The  average  infatuated  lover 
might  not  have  noticed  it.  But  my  judgment  was  not 
touched  nor  my  blood  overheated  so  I  should  be  un- 
able to  compare,  discriminate  and  determine. 

One  afternoon,  not  many  weeks  later,  as  we  met  at 
our  house,  after  returning  from  the  forenoon's  work,  I 


208  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

reached  out  mj  arm  to  draw  her  to  me  for  a  custom- 
ary kiss.  But  instead  of  answering  to  my  touch,  like 
an  intricate  mechanism  whose  controUing  spring  is 
pressed,  she  gave  a  movement  of  repulsion.  I  released 
her  with  a  sense  of  injury.  Had  she  recovered  so  soon 
from  her  dream  of  love  ? 

^ '  What  does  this  mean  \  "  I  asked,  gravely. 

Her  eyes  trembled  before  mine  and  then  sank  to  the 
floor.  "1  do  not  believe  you  love  me,"  she  said. 
"  As  I  think  it  over,  it  seems  to  me  that  I  am  the 
lover  and  you  the  patient  recipient.  It  was  you  who 
tempted  me  from  my  unemotional  heights  or  depths, 
whichever  they  were.  But  I  feel  now  as  if  you  had 
deserted  me." 

I  had  not  dreamed  but  that  I  was  in  love  until  that 
moment.  A  sudden  revelation  broke  upon  my  soul 
and  so  clearly  that  I  was  only  anxious  not  to  let  my  face 
express  it.  With  the  instinct  of  self-protection  I  tried 
to  recall  some  of  the  gibberish  of  initiates.  For  cen- 
turies men  and  women  had  been  reproached  by  each 
other  for  lack  of  love,  and  a  whole  cyclopedia  of  catch 
phrases  and  evasions  have  been  invented. 

"  You  are  not  yourself  this  noon,"  I  ventured.  But 
it  seemed  to  me  that  I  had  used  the  poorest  phrase  of 
all.  Gertrude's  was  quite  too  frank  and  clear-sighted 
a  nature  for  any  sort  of  imposition.  Her  face  flushed, 
but  it  was  not  with  the  glow  of  reviving  confidence. 

"  You  are  confessing  everything,"  she  cried,  her 
slim  fingers  clinching  at  her  side  as  she  spoke.  *'  There 
was  but  one  answer  to  my  reproach,  to  have  disregarded 
it  and  only  have  drawn  me  to  you  the  closer.  Ton 
should  have  stifled  my  doubts  with  kisses  and  answered 
my  misgivings  with  a  more  tender  embrace.  But  in- 
stead you  release  me  at  my  first  syllable  of  complaint; 
at  my  first  movement  of  shrinking  you  look  at  me  not 
in  amazement,  not  in  misery  and  sorrow,  but  in  cold, 
self-conscious  displeasure,  and  say  ^  You  are  not  your- 
self.' " 


An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage.  209 

She  stood,  flnsliing,  trembling,  in  her  awakened  dis- 
trust, in  the  first  agony  of  doubt  of  what  she  had 
thought  the  perfecting  of  her  life.  There  was  yet 
time  for  me  to  have  healed  the  breach  between  us,  if 
1  had  loved  her  as  she  craved.  She  had  leaped  upon 
the  outgoing  boat.  I  stood  upon  the  dock  watching 
the  gap  between  us  grow  wider  and  wider.  There  was 
but  one  power  could  reverse  those  mighty  engines  of 
character,  the  power  of  love.  Alas,  I  had  not  sus- 
pected how  bare  my  heart  was  until  now.  To  her 
reahties  I  could  only  answer  combinations  of  words,  to 
her  passion  only  cool  common  sense,  to  her  disappointed 
love  only  conventional  excuses. 

"  I  did  not  want  to  force  you,"  I  said  weakly,  and 
despised  myself  as  I  said  it.  It  seemed  as  if  she  read 
me  like  an  open  book.  She  turned  and  rushing  to  the 
sofa  threw  herself  upon  it,  face  downward,  and  burst 
into  tears.  For  nearly  a  minute  I  stood  looking  at  her 
there.  Her  weeping  disturbed  but  did  not  fill  me  with 
misery.  Her  emotion  made  me  uncomfortable,  but  did 
not  touch  my  heart.  I  wished  myself  a  thousand  miles 
away.  I  regretted  I  had  ever  seen  her.  Then  I  seemed 
to  separate  from  my  own  individuality,  and  to  look 
back  upon  myself  and  despise  myself.  What  con- 
temptible specimen  of  manhood,  or  what  poor  order  of 
creature  was  this  standing  here  and  looking  coldly  upon 
the  agonies  of  the  woman  who  loved  him  ?  Shamed 
by  my  own  self-consciousness,  I  went  to  her  side,  and, 
with  new  awkwardness,  laid  my  hand  upon  her  bowed 
head.  She  ceased  sobbing,  as  if  to  study  how  much  of 
love  there  was  in  that  touch.  Then  she  brushed  away 
my  hand  and  sat  up. 

"  Oh,  you  have  nothing  for  me,''  she  cried  with 
streaming  eyes.  "  I  knew  it.  I  knew  it.  Leave  me  to 
get  used  to  it." 

What  could  I  say  that  could  dry  her  tears,  that  would 
still  those  wild  heart  throbs  ?  If  I  had  loved  her  I 
should  not  have  needed  to  think.  But  I  felt  conscious 
27 


210  An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage. 

of  a  terrible  hollow  where  love  should  be.  I  admired 
her,  I  enjoyed  her,  but  that  was  all.  One  empty  form 
of  words  after  another  came  to  my  tongue's  end,  only 
to  be  rejected  as  too  uttei'ly  shallow  and  impotent.  At 
last  I  said,  forcing  myself  to  look  into  her  piteous 
eyes: 

"  I  am  sorry  you  are  so  miserable." 

"  But  you  can  do  nothing  for  me,"  she  answered  with 
lii^htning  readiness.  "No  need  to  tell  me  that.  You 
do  not  love  me.  Oh,  why  did  yoii  tempt  me  to  give 
you  all  when  3'ou  had  nothing  for  me  %  No,  do  not 
distress  yourself  to  say  more.  I  am  not  weeping  to 
induce  you  to  utter  lies  to  me,  but  only  in  regret 
for  what  I  have  lost.  Yet  how  can  I  have  lost  what  I 
never  had  ? " 

Then  she  sank  upon  the  sofa  once  more,  and  I  once 
more  leaned  over  her.  I  was  ashamed  that  my  heart 
did  not  yearn  for  her,  disgusted  at  myself  that  I  had 
to  study  for  some  way  to  comfort  her.  I  tried  to  take 
her  hand,  but  she  caught  it  quickly  from  my  clasp, 
moaning  from  the  cushions  : 

"  Leave  me." 

Then  she  raised  her  face  for  an  instant  and  cried  : 

"  Do  you  not  understand  ?  It  is  not  that  I  want 
you  to  pet  me.  It  is  because  I  am  in  agony  for  the 
love  I  have  missed,  for  the  joy  never  guessed  before, 
which  I  feel  now  as  if  I  could  not  live  without.  Leave 
me  with  my  sorrow." 

So  I  left  her,  and  for  that  afternoon  I  was  only  sorry 
I  could  not  get  away  from  myself  too. 

There  was  no  doubt  in  my  mind  now.  I  was  sure 
that  I  did  not  love  her.  I  had  not  for  her  what  she 
wanted.  She  had  read  me  aright.  But  why  was  it  ? 
Was  she  not  everything  a  man  might  love  ?  Where 
was  there  a  more  beautiful,  a  more  responsive,  a  more 
amiable  woman?  Men  love  beauty.  Why  did  I  not 
love  her?  Men  love  grace,  delicacy,  refinement  Why 
did  I  not  love  her?     Men  love  intellect,   brilhancy, 


An  JExperiment  in  Marriage.  211 

sympathy ;  men  love  to  be  loved,  passionately,  enthu- 
siastically. I  bad  all  these  in  Gertrude,  but  was  con- 
scious I  did  not  and  could  not  give  her  what  she  was 
weeping  for.  She  had  seemed  to  be  every  thing  I 
could  desire  in  a  wife,  so  I  had  done  my  best  to  evoke 
her  love.  Apparently  perfection  was  not  enough  for  me. 

I  was  out  of  temper  with  myself  and  with  human 
nature,  so  I  made  my  way  to  the  mountain  side  and 
lay  there  in  gloomy  reverie  for  hours.  I  made  no  pro- 
gress in  my  meditations.  I  began  with  the  fact  that 
perfection  in  womanhood  had  been  given  me,  and  ended 
with  the  admission  that  1  was  a  most  unreasonable  crea- 
ture not  to  be  overwhelmingly  in  love  with  my  wife. 
But  what  could  I  do  about  it  ?  I  could  resolve  to  be 
tender  and  considerate.  But  I  had  been  that  and  she 
was  unsatisfied.  She  demanded  an  ardor  of  passion 
which,  with  all  her  lovableness,  she  could  not  inspire 
in  me.  It  was  not  enough  to  make  me  love  her  madly, 
that  I  wished  to  do  so.  I  could  not  lash  myself  into 
the  lasting  enthusiasm  which  a  lover  has  for  his  mis- 
tress.    A  great  passion  cannot  be  made  by  main  force. 

It  was  just  before  the  time  for  going  to  dinner,  that 
I  again  entered  the  little  house  which  had  been  assigned 
to  Gertrude  for  our  home.  It  was  with  very  pro- 
nounced uneasiness  that  I  opened  the  door  and  stepped 
into  the  little  sitting-room.  But  if  my  wife  per- 
sisted in  her  cross-examination,  what  could  I  rejDly? 
If  she  continued  to  reproach  me,  how  could  I  offer  new 
proofs  of  a  love  I  was  conscious  I  did  not  have  for  her. 
Gertrude  had  apparently  been  watching  for  me.  For 
how  many  hours?  I  guiltily  wondered.  Women  have 
miinite  capacities  for  these  long  watches.  As  I  entered 
the  room  she  rose  quickly  and  came  toward  me  with 
something  like  the  old  light  in  her  eyes.  I  opened  my 
arms  and  she  threw  herself  into  them. 

''  Forgive  me,"  she  said,  with  a  new  gentleness  born 
of  her  suffering.  "  I  must  have  been  tired  and  sick  to 
have  spoken  as  I  did." 


212  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

I  kissed  her  foreliead  and  stroked  back  her  hair. 

"I  know  you  love  me,"  she  added  in  a  moment. 
"  Tell  me  so  once  more,"  she  raised  her  beautiful  eyes 
to  mine,  ''and  I  will  not  doubt  it  again.  Oh,"  and  she 
sighed,  "I  cannot,  I  dare  not  doubt  it." 

This  Y^^as  the  hardest  of  all  to  bear.  Her  faith,  to 
which  I  knew  I  was  not  entitled,  had  risen  triumphant 
after  its  trial.  I  do  not  wonder  that  the  faithful  of 
all  rehgions  are  women.  Then  I  murmured  some 
commonplaces,  which,  in  her  new  forgiving  and 
trusting  mood,  sounded  to  her  like  words  of  devotion. 

For  a  week  Gertrude's  manner  to  me  was  very 
pathetic.  She  seemed  so  anxious  that  I  should  forget 
that  she  had  doubted  me,  so  eager  that  I  should  not 
suspect  for  an  instant  but  that  I  was  making  her 
happy.  I  tried  to  be  loverlike  but  was  conscious  I 
was  only  kind.  I  tried  to  be  tender  but  could  feel 
that  I  only  succeeded  in  being  awkward.  The  hours 
when  we  were  alone  together  and  when  she  would 
most  naturally  expect  an  interchange  of  endearments, 
a  renewal  of  vows,  I  endeavored  as  much  as  possible 
to  abridge,  and  to  avoid  when  T  could  invent  any  sem- 
blance of  an  excuse.  Not  that  the  most  cold-hearted 
of  men  could  regard  as  disagreeable  the  moments  passed 
in  affectionate  relations  with  a  beautiful  woman  like 
Gertrude,  if  there  were  no  after  consideration.  To  be 
kissed  by  sweet  lips,  caressed  by  soft  hands,  to  be  told 
of  'one's  engaging  qualities,  reminded  of  one's  virtues 
and  graces,  cannot  but  be  delightful  if  implying  no 
responsibilities  and  incurring  no  reciprocal  obligations. 
But  I  felt  sure  that  my  wife  would  look  for  a  depth  of 
devotion  which  I  did  not  have,  that  she  would  seek  for 
the  presence  in  me  of  the  absorbing  passion  which  she 
craved.  It  was  more  intolerable,  too,  than  open 
reproaches  when  I  saw  her  face  grow  strained  with 
the  disappointment  slie  tried  to  conceal,  when  an  ex- 
pression of  agonized  doubt  was  quickly  followed  by  a 
forced  smile. 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  213 

It  was  a  hard  week,  but  there  was  no  succeeding  one 
like  it.  After  that  she  helped  me  to  avoid  these  sug- 
gestive hours.  She  would  make  excuses  to  go  home 
earlier  than  I  from  entertainments,  and  then  would 
feign  to  be  asleep  when  I  returned.  I  knew  it  was 
only  feigning,  for  I  could  see  the  color  come  to  her 
cheeks  as  I  looked  at  her,  and  her  eyelids  flutter  be- 
neath my  scrutiny.  I  noticed  that  while  she  con- 
tinued to  offer  me  a  welcoming  and  parting  kiss,  she 
now  drew  quickly  away  as  if  to  spare  me  the  ti'ouble  of 
caressing  her  further.  I  could  not  but  be  oppressed 
by  the  change  I  saw  in  her,  nor  could  I  rid  myself  of 
a  consciousness  of  guilt.  But  the  one  thing  needful 
for  her  happiness  I  could  not  give  her.  It  was  my 
misfortune,  I  believed,  as  much  as  hers,  for  Gertrude's 
nature  was  one  to  reward  a  lover  most  munificently. 

Ward  called  frequently  on  us  and  in  his  presence 
Gertrude  was  more  than  her  old  self.  I  could  see 
Ward  was  amazed  at  her  intellect,  but  the  instant  he 
had  left  us  Gertrude's  vivacious  mood  had  passed  like 
the  energy  of  a  spent  spring.  If  I  tried  to  make 
further  conversation  with  her  the  responses  were  such 
as  to  make  short  shrift  of  it,  and  as  soon  as  possible 
she  would  make  some  excuse  to  leave  me  alone.  On 
one  occasion  I  asked  my  friend  what  he  thought  of  her. 

"  She  is  the  most  brilliant  woman  i  ever  knew,"  he 
answered,  enthusiastically.  "  You  have  a  prize,  how- 
ever wickedly  you  may  have  won  it." 

"  But  don't  you  think  her  manner  toward  me  is 
changed  \  "  I  asked. 

"  Why  no,  I  should  think  she  was  a  model  of  wifely 
consideration.  She  neither  exposes  your  mistakes,  nor 
points  her  jokes  with  your  foibles." 

But  I  felt  that  Ward  was  more  to  be  pitied,  at  this 
stage  of  his  own  experience,  than  I  in  my  trouble.  I 
had  every  reason  to  l>elieve  that  he  was  falling  deeper 
in  love  with  Mrs.  Trenk  every  day,  and  with  his  rigid 
condemnation  of  Grape  Yalley  divorce  and  marriage,  I 


214  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

could  see  no  future  for  him  except  a  broken  heart.  If 
Gillette  had  been  home  I  should  have  gone  to  him  with 
my  perplexity,  but  as  my  own  judgment  seemed  in- 
capable of  working  on  the  subject,  I  had  simply  to  let 
my  relations  with  Gertrude  drift.  Then  came  the  end 
of  it  all. 

One  noon  as  I  entered  the  liouse  I  found  a  note  in 
Gertrude's  handwriting  addressed  to  me.  I  opened  it 
and  this  is  what  I  read  : 

"  Dear  Mr.  Vinton  —  I  think  we  have  proved  our- 
selves unfitted  to  make  each  other  happy,  and  when 
you  read  this  I  shall  be  at  the  clerk's  office  fifing  my 
record  for  a  divorce.  You  know  I  did  not  befieve  that 
love  was  for  me.  For  a  few  weeks  you  made  me  feel 
that  I  had  been  mistaken,  and  they  were  the  happiest 
weeks  I  have  ever  known.  Do  not  forget  that.  But  I 
have  since  found  I  was  the  subject  of  a  delusion,  an 
ennoblhig  delusion,  but  once  detected  it  could  enter- 
tain me  no  longer.  I  do  not  blame  you  for  not  ador- 
ing me,  as  I  was  foolish  enough  once  to  believe  you 
did.  After  my  little  dream  was  over  I  became  as  in- 
capable of  love  as  you.  It  was  only  a  matter  of  time 
when  I  should  awake,  and  if  so,  the  sooner  the  better. 
Don't  you  think  so  ?  Gertrude." 

That  night  I  slept  once  more  at  the  phalanstery,  the 
little  I  slept.  Much  of  the  night  I  sat  by  the  window 
in  loneliness  of  soul.  I  felt  that  something  bright  and 
beautiful  and  very  dear  had  been  taken  from  me ;  some- 
'  thing  that  I  ought  to  have  been  able  to  keep.  I  tried 
to  strain  my  vision  so  as  to  embrace  the  little  house 
away  to  the  east,  where  she  who  had  been  my  wife 
was  alone.  Was  she  sleepless  and  miserable  too  \  To 
be  sure  we  had  seemed  incapable  of  inspiring  each 
other  with  that  compelling  ardor  of  mind,  soul  and 
body,  known  as  love,  but  had  we  not  enough  for  each 
other  to  make  it  cruel  to  part  ? 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

One  afternoon  of  the  following  month  I  stood  on 
the  steps  of  the  phalanstery  watching  my  wife  of  yes- 
terday walk  toward  what  was  once  our  home  and 
alone.  She  had  given  me  a  smile  as  she  passed  me. 
Why  should  I  not  follow  her  and  offer  her  my  heart 
anew.  My  loneliness  was  surely  an  indication  of  love. 
Perhaps  it  needed  but  a  shadow  to  make  me  conscious 
of  the  light.  Certainly  I  was  earnest  enough  now  in 
my  longing  to  be  with  her.  To  kiss  her  agaiii,  to  clasp 
her  in  my  arms  while  we  told  each  other  that  this  little 
trial  was  all  that  was  necessary  to  make  our  mutual 
love  what  it  should  be,  would  be  a  glorious  experience 
indeed. 

I  had  resolved  to  follow  her  and  had  even  taken  my 
first  step  in  the  direction  she  had  taken  when  I  no- 
ticed that  I  had  been  anticipated.  I  recognized  a  very 
familiar  form.  It  must  be  Gillette,  who,  suddenly  re- 
turning from  a  trip  east  and  coming  up  the  street,  met 
her.  He  stopped  to  exchange  salutations,  and  then 
doubtless  asked  her  for  me.  Now  she  was  answering 
him.  He  seems  astonished.  He  gesticulates.  Probably 
he  is  expostulating  with  her,  telKng  her  that  she  has 
been  hasty,  that  if  she  had  given  me  a  longer  trial  I 
would  have  proved  to  be  the  man  most  ableto give  her 
the  complete  response  she  desired.  Now  they  pass 
out  of  sight  together.  I  will  go  to  my  room.  Gillette 
will  ?09n  return  and  seek  me  there.  iPerhaps  he  will 
be  the  bearer  of  the  good  news  I  so  much  desired. 

But  once  in  my  room,  I  began  to  recover  my  senses. 
I  recalled  the  memory  of  the  change  in  Gertrude  since 


216  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

she  had  assured  herself  that  I  was  only  her  friend,  not 
her  lover.  Wise  woman  that  she  was  she  had  not 
soiiglit  a  divorce  until,  from  constant  association  with 
me,  she  had  forced  herself  to  see  tliat  I  did  not  love 
her,  and  had  cured  her  own  temporary  infatuation.  I 
might  as  w^ell  try  to  melt  once  more  the  solid  lava  from 
volcanoes  extinct  centuries  since. 

It  was  more  than  an  hour  later  that  the  expected 
knock  came  at  my  door,  and  I  welcomed,  with  a  warm 
clasp  of  the  hand,  my  friend  Gillette. 

As  soon  as  the  first  customary  questions  and  answers 
had  been  disposed  of,  and  our  cigars  lighted,  Gillette 
began  with  some  hesitation : 

"  Your  second  marriage  has  not  proved  a  permanent 
one,  I  see." 

"  I  saw  you  talking  with  Gertrude,"  1  said.  "  I  sup- 
pose she  gave  you  the  explanation." 

I  thought  he  colored.  "Your  eyesight  is  good. 
Yes,"  he  continued,  "Gertrude  talked  very  sweetly 
about  the  whole  affair.  I  am  very  sorry  for  you  both. 
Ward,  she  tells  me,  too,  is  in  the  toils.  Do  you  see  any 
way  out  for  him  ?  " 

"I  cannot,"  I  answered.  "But  he  will  not  even 
admit  that  lie  is  in  love,"  I  added.  "  He  thinks  his 
feeling  for  Mrs.  Trenk  is  mere  friendship,  an  inversion 
of  the  mistake  Gertrude  and  I  made,  you  see." 

"  It  does  not  seem  as  if  such  a  mistake  were  possL 
ble,"  remarked  Gillette.  "  A  friend  is  actuated  in  what 
he  does  by  a  sense  of  fealty,  of  obligation ;  a  lover  con- 
siders  the  favor  is  his  if  permitted  to  do  anything  for 
his  mistress.  The  friend  likes  because  in  accordance  with 
his  ideas.  The  lover  adores  because  he  can  do  no  less. 
The  lover  thrills  at  the  sight  of  his  mistress's  dress,  at 
the  perfume  of  her  gloves.  He  expands  in  her  presence, 
even  if  she  be  unconscious  of  him.  The  sound  *of  her 
voice  makes  him  as  full  of  joy  as  a  robin  when  the  sun 
breaks  from  the  clouds.  Her  words  seem  to  eclipse  all 
other  language.    Her  breath  intoxicates  him  like  an 


An  Exj^eriment  in  Marriage.  217 

oriental  drug,  the  touch  of  her  hand  sends  the  most 
mighty  of  all  magnetic  influences  through  his  body. 
When  he  is  with  her,  hours  seem  as  minutes;  to  look 
at  her  face,  merely  to  be  conscious  of  her  presence,  Alls 
the  time  witli  occupation.  When  she  leaves  him,  it  is 
as  if  sweet  music  suddenly  ceased,  or  as  if  a  curtain  had 
dropped  between  him  and  his  own  soul.  When  he 
goes  to  her,  his  ver}^  feet  seem  instinct  with  an  eager- 
ness of  their  own  to  make  good  speed,  and  he  feels 
strong  enough  to  tear  up  mountains  by  their  very  roots 
if  they  be  in  his  way.' ' 

1  had  never  known  my  friend  so  eloquent  before. 
"  I  believe  you  must  be  in  love,  you  describe  the  pas- 
sion in  such  detail," 

"  Did  vou  love  Gertrude  like  that  ?"  almost  demanded 
Gillette. " 

"  Ah,  no,  but  that  is  the  sort  of  love  she  wanted." 

"  Well,"  he  broke  out,  impetuously,  ''I  have  loved 
her  in  just  that  way  since  I  first  met  her.  Even  my 
brief  infatuation  for  Mrs.  Blakesley  hardly  made  me, 
for  a  minute,  less  Gertrude's  adorer." 

I  looked  at  him  in  astonishment.  "  And  you  never 
told  her  % " 

*'  Indeed,  I  have  told  her  scores  of  times,  but  she 
only  answered  me  as  she  did  all  the  others  before  you. 
You,  doubtless,  wooed  her  more  boldly  than  we,  her 
real  worshippers,  and  hence  you  won.  But  I  shall  yet 
win  her."  And  he  rose  excitedly  and  paced  the  floor. 
"  Such  passion  as  mine  must  mean  that  sometime  it 
will  meet  full  return  from  her.  Her  dream  of  love 
shall  be  realized  and  mine,  at  once." 

I  could  not  wont  myself  to  Gillette's  anouncement. 

''  Your  friendship  for  me  must  have  been  severely 
tried  when  I  married  her." 

"  No,"  he  answered,  calmly.  "  I  was  simply  amazed 
at  a  man  who  could  not  be  happy  in  paradise.  Mar- 
riage is  not  here  the  hopeless  dead  wall  which  shuts 
away  the  true  lover,  that  it  is  in  the  outside  world. 
28 


218  A7i  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

If  we  are  conscious  of  the  reality  of  our  own  love, 
lovers  never  despair  in  Grape  Yalley.  He  is  sure  that 
the  woman  he  sincerely  and  continually  longs  for  will 
some  time  %  to  her  home  in  his  heart." 

Then  came  another  knock  at  the  door,  and  I  admit- 
ted Ward.  Gillette  and  I  glanced  at  each  other  sig- 
nificantly. There  had  certainly  been  a  marked  change 
in  Ward's  face.  It  w^as  not  that  it  showed  illness,  but 
a  new  sensitiveness.  The  eyes  had  a  new  gentleness 
in  them  ;  a  new  light.  The  lips  once  so  firm  had  at- 
tained  a  certain  mobility,  and  when  in  thought  showed 
a  slight  curve  downward  at  the  corners.  The  impres- 
sion of  repose  he  once  gave  had"  forever  disappeared. 
His  face  was  more  interesting,  yet  I  could  not  but  feel 
sad  as  I  looked  at  him,  for  I  was  sure  I  knew  what 
had  made  the  change.  I  felt  that  ray  friend  must  ex- 
perience all  the  wild  unrest,  the  agonizing  longing,  the 
loneliness  of  love,  but  without  hope  of  that  glorious 
fruition  which  vindicates  all  the  labor  and  anguish  it 
has  caused.  After  a  few  minutes  of  general  conver- 
sation Gillette  asked  Ward  a  most  extraordinary  ques- 
tion : 

"  Why  don't  you  marry  one  of  the  bright  particular 
specimens  of  womanhood  we  cultivate  in  Grape  Yal- 
ley, and  become  one  of  us?  " 

Ward  almost  gasped  to  be  so  roughly  handled.  It 
was  as  if  Gillette  had  reached  out  with  harsh  hand 
and  was  tearing  all  his  finer  sensibilities.  For  a  mo- 
ment Ward  did  not  reply.  Then  it  seemed  to  occur 
to  him  that  after  all  Gillette  could  not  see  his  heart, 
and   he  finally  replied  in  nearly  his  ordinary  mannei'. 

"  When  my  two  years'  probation  has  expired,  I  shall 
leave  Grape  Yalley  forever." 

"  That  will  be  in  two  months,"  I  broke  in.  "  You 
don't  mean  to  say  you  will  leave  us  in  two  months?" 

^' You  say  ^  us,' "  re}>eated  Ward.  ''Am  I  to  un- 
derstand tliat  you  expect  to  remain  here  ?  I  should 
think,  of  all  men,  you  would  be  the  most  willing  to 


A71  Exjperiment  in  Marriage.  219 

leave  a  state  of  society  whose  marriage  institutions 
Lave  left  yon  twice  bereft." 

Gillette  glanced  at  me  with  interest. 

"  My  marriages  did  not  bring  love  with  them,"  I  an- 
swered, without  hesitation,  "  so  I  ought  to  count  it  a 
blessing  that  I  am  not  held  for  life  to  an  unnatural 
bond.  If  I  had  made  either  of  these  marriages  in  the 
outside  world  I  should  have  made  some  woman  miser- 
able, and  deprived  my  own  life  of  the  attainment  it 
most  craves." 

"  You  should  not  have  made  such  mistakes,"  said 
Ward. 

•'  Nor  would  I  if  I  had  been  infallible,"  I  replied. 
"  But  human  nature  is  prone  to  err.  Temporary  feel- 
ing is  taken  for  lasting  passion,  interest  for  sympathy, 
liking  for  love.  To  prevent  the  misery  and  perversion 
of  the  best  portions  of  our  lives  which  result  from 
mistaken  marriao^es  it  is  not  enouo^li  to  warn  men  and 
women  to  be  all  knowing.  What  is  needed  is  an  op- 
portunity to  correct  their  mistakes." 

Then  Gillette  found  an  opening. 

''Try  it  yourself.  Ward." 

"  Not  I,"  answered  he,  with  some  excitement. 
"  When  I  marry,  I  marry  for  life." 

"  Let  us  hope,  then,  that  your  first  choice  will  be  the 
woman  to  whom  you  can  be  everything,  and  who  can 
be  everything  to  you,"  remarked  Gillette.  "  But  if  it 
happened  you  found  you  made  your  wife  miserable  in- 
stead of  happy,  if  she  found  you  were  eating  your  heart 
out  for  another  woman,  would  not  the  eternity  of  such  a 
relation  be  a  curse  %  I  tell  you  human  beings  ought  not  to 
be  held  forever  to  the  consequences  of  a  decision  which 
according  to  the  laws  of  probabilities  in  human  affairs,  is 
extremely  likely  to  be  erroneous.  You  know  it  is  es- 
timated that  ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  business 
ventures  fail,  hence  the  necessity  for  courts  of  liqui- 
dation. Why  then  should  a  man  be  expected  to  be  in- 
fallible in  his  choice  of  a  wife,  a  choice  usually  made 


220  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

at  a  time  of  life  when  his  judgment  is  untrained,  and 
alwa^^s  under  more  or  less  excitement  ?" 

"  There  is  no  use  for  you  to  urge  me,"  exclaimed 
Ward,  in  what  might  have  seemed  to  a  casual  specta- 
tor to  be  uncalled  for  temper.  "  If  all  the  houris  of 
paradise  tempted  me  I  would  not  marry  here.  When  I 
marry  I  want  to  feel  that  my  wife  is  mine  forever, 
that  nothing  but  death  can  take  her  from  me." 

Then  he  rose  and  hurried  from  the  room  without 
the  formality  of  a  good-bye. 

"  His  prejudices  will  ruin  his  life,"  commented  Gil- 
lette. Then  after  a  pause  he  changed  the  subject.  '*  I 
have  something  to  propose  to  you,  my  friend.  Your 
two  years'  probation  does  not  expire  for  two  months, 
but  I  know  there  is  no  man  in  Grape  Yalley  more  de- 
voted to  our  institutions  than  yon." 

I  said  nothing,  and  he  continued  :  "  I^ext  week  I 
start  for  the  East  once  more.  You  have  just  passed 
through  an  experience  that  must  have  been  very  trying 
to  you.  No  man  can  separate  his  life  from  that  of  a 
woman  with  whom  he  has  been  on  intimate  relations 
without  suffering  something  of  a  shock.  Time  and 
subjection  to  different  influences  are  the  best  pallia- 
tives. A  month's  trip  east  with  me  will  benefit  you 
and  our  cause  at  the  same  time." 

"What  can  I  do  for  the  cause  ?  "  I  inquired. 

"  I  will  tell  you,"  he  answered.  "  This  is  a  proselyt- 
ing trip  of  mine  to  New  York.  There  are  several  men 
and  women  whom  I  believe  are  ripe  for  conversion. 
Between  us  both  we  ought  not  to  return  to  Grape  Yal- 
ley empty  handed.     Will  you  go?  " 

The  proposal  was  a  complete  surprise,  but  it  has  always 
been  a  habit  of  my  mind  to  come  to  a  quick  decision. 

"Yes." 

A  trip  to  New  York  would  at  least  provide  me  with 
an  opportunity  to  send  my  record  of  the  Grape  Yalley 
experiment  in  marriage  to  the  editor  who  had  promised 
to  publish  whatever  I  wxote. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

The  night  before  my  departure  east  had  come,  and  I 
went  into'the  general  hall,  a  little  late,  to  find  a  debate 
in  progress.  Those  who  took  the  leading  parts  sat  on 
the  platform,  though,  after  they  had  been  heard  from, 
it  was  the  custom  for  people  in  the  audience  to  join 
issue  on  one  side  or  the  other.  In  these  discussions 
women  had  as  much  to  say  as  men.  With  equal  leisure 
for  study  and  all  the  stimulating  influence  of  unre- 
strained social  intercourse,  the  women  of  Grape  Valley 
were  as  active  in  their  mental  processes,  as  logical  in 
their  reasoning  as  the  men. 

It  was  the  custom  first  for  an  essayist  to  lay  down 
the  general  features  of  the  subject  to  be  discussed,  to 
state  the  question  broadly,  fully,  and  without  bias. 
Then  one  disputant  took  the  affirmative  and  another 
the  negative,  before  the  general  voice  was  called  out. 
The  essayist  of  this  evening,  no  other  than  Gertrude 
herself,  had  nearly  finished  her  contribution  when  I 
entered.  I  would  not  on  any  account  have  been  late 
if  1  had  known  she  was  to  take  part.  As  I  entered  the 
hall  the  clear  and  hell-like  tones  of  her  voice  met  my 
ear,  and  gave  me  a  very  strange  impression,  strange  and 
yet  familiar.  It  was  a  voice  out  of  my  past,  the  forever 
past.  Every  inflection  at  once  reminded  me  of  my 
intimacy  with  her  and  that  she  was  henceforth  eternally 
cut  ofl  from  me.  I  seated  myself  on  the  first  convenient 
chair,  without  noticing  who  was  next  to  me,  just  in 
time  to  hear  her  concluding  words. 

"  Men  are  often  attracted  toward  women  by  other 
qualities  than  those  which  are  sufficient  to  constitute  a 


222  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

basis  for  lasting  attachment.  Women  are  drawn 
toward  men  who  can  answer  to  but  one  small  and  in- 
significant trait  in  tlieir  cliaracters.  Tliese  inclinations 
are  undeniable.  In  the  outside  world  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  marriages  are  founded  on  these  partial  at- 
tractions, only  to  be  found  wanting,  at  a  later  period, 
in  the  essentials.  In  Grape  Yalley  the  same  human 
nature  exists,  with  the  same  susceptibility  to  attractions 
which  are  insufficient  to  support  a  true  and  lasting 
love.  Love  is  the  nearest  approximation  to  a  complete 
harmony  between  a  given  man  and  won^an,  but  it  is 
alwa)^s  probable  that  some  other  individual  may  excel 
either  one  of  this  ideal  pair  in  some  single  attractive 
quality.  Sometimes  this  partial  attraction  is  merely 
sensual.  Sometimes  it  lies  in  purely  physical  attributes, 
expressive  features,  perhaps  a  graceful  carriage,  or  an 
artistic  form.  More  often  it  lies  in  some  peculiar  in- 
tellectual or  spiritual  individuality,  some  piquancy  of 
disposition,  some  unusual  development  of  a  w^inning 
trait,  perhaps  in  the  possession  of  a  certain  exceptional 
potency  which  appeals  to  the  one  affected  and  to 
that  one  alone.  What  shall  we  say  of  these  incom- 
plete love  relations,  these  partial  passions,  these  tem- 
porary attractions  which  crave  closer  association  and 
more  intimate  relations,  but  still  are  not  enough  to 
make  a  basis  for  lasting  marriage  relations  ?  Are  they 
unmixed  evils  or  not  ?  '^ 

The  first  speaker  was  Mr.  Harvey,  the  mining  expert 
who  had  visited  the  placer  mine  the  year  previous  with 
Gillette,  Ward  and  me.  He  had  certainly  had  an  ex- 
perience of  a  most  significant  kind  with  Mrs.  Blakes- 
ley.     Had  he  learned  any  thing  valuable  from  it  ? 

Mr.  Harvey  said  much  more  than  I  can  attempt  to 
reproduce  here.  But  I  will  give  a  few  of  his  more 
noticeable  utterances. 

"  I  believe  these  partial  attractions  are  an  unfortu- 
nate inheritance  from  the  ill-assorted  marriages  and 
the  unsatisfactory  love  affairs  of  our  ancestors.     They 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  223 

had  to  make  the  hest  of  partial  attractions.  Their 
love  affairs  were  almost  always  incomplete,  and  we  are 
the  offspring  of  them.  The  women  for  thonsauds  of 
years  have  had  to  make  the  best  of  the  few  agreeable 
qualities  in  their  husbands,  husbands  to  do  then*  best 
to  exaggerate  the  pleasant  characteristics  their  wives 
might  happen  to  exliibit.  So  we  are  born  amenable, 
in  a  most  mischievous  degree,  to  these  partial  attrac- 
tions. They  break  up  the  most  harmonious  marriages 
by  drawing  husband  and  wife  after  some  ignis  fatuus. 
Tliey  can  give  nothing  lasting,  nothing  satisfying,  but 
they  fire  the  fancy,  excite  the  passions,  make  permanent 
rehitions  nnlikely,  and  are  the  most  destructive  forces 
of  the  sexual  world." 

The  speaker  proceeded  to  quote  illustrations : 
^' The  man  of  intellect  and  soul  meets  and  marries 
a  wouian  w^ho  is  worthy  of  his  fullest  love.  She  en- 
joys him  and  he  her.  They  are  devoted  to  each  other. 
A  woman  crosses  his  path  who  is  attracted  by  an  ele- 
vation of  character  she  cannot  understand,  and  which 
merely  piques  her  curiosity.  She  smiles  upon  him, 
and  he  is  attracted  in  turn  by  the  luxuriance  of  her 
physical  nature,  an  aspect  of  personality  to  wdiich  he 
is  not  accustomed.  Being  deficient  in  his  sensual  na- 
ture he  is  peculiarly  interested  in  the  new  connection 
of  such  a  nature  with  his.  His  relations  with  his  wife, 
whom  he  can  love  with  his  whole  being,  are  disturbed 
and  perhaps  destroyed  by  a  transient  attraction  for  a 
w^oman  whose  nature  touches  his  but  at  one  point. 
Often  the  wife  of  an  ascetic  disposition,  whose  hus- 
band ]-eturns  her  love,  is  overwhelmed  by  the  animal- 
ism of  a  man  whose  soul  is  as  far  removed  from 
harmony  with  hers  as  the  antipodes.  Often  it  is  one 
phase  of  a  character  which  attracts  an  individual  of 
the  opposite  sex  who  is  entirely  out  of  sympathy  with 
it  otherwise.  The  serious  man  is  attracted  by  a  witty 
woman ;  the  poetic  woman  by  the  dull  realism  of 
some  male  acquaintance ;  the  man  of  sensibility  is  in- 


224  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

fatnated  with  the  cold  woman  ;  the  woman  of  versa- 
tility by  the  man  of  one  idea,  and  that  a  probably 
wroncr  one.  Sometimes  totally  unsympathetic  men 
and  women  are  attracted  by  some  peculiarity  of  face 
or  of  voice  which  in  some  way  appeals  to  an  occult 
inclination.  Quite  frequently  the  pure  are  drawn  to 
the  impure,  the  sober  to  the  riotous,  the  good  to  the 
wicked." 

When  he  concluded  it  was  with  these  words  :  -'I 
see  no  good  effect  these  partial  and  counter  attractions 
can  have.  They  must  be  regarded,  as  far  as  I  can  see, 
as  among  the  everlasting  curses  of  our  human  nature. 
In  the  society  of  the  old  world  they  are  the  provoking 
causes  of  the  large  proportion  of  unliappy  marriages, 
and  of  most  of  the  unfaithfulness  of  husband  and  wife 
which  in  that  society  yields  such  plentiful  harvests  of 
ruined  homes,  accursed  children  and  misery  untold. 
Even  in  Grape  Valley  this  eternal  susceptibility  of 
our  nature  is  very  mischievous.  To  be  sure,  we  can 
correct  mistakes  in  marriage  relations  caused  by  it,  but 
it  is  the  fatal  peril  ever  threatening  the  true  marriage 
when  attained,  which,  with  all  its  moral  beauty  and 
its  possibilities  for  the  happiness  and  development  of 
husband  and  wife,  breaks  like  a  dead  branch  under  the 
destructive  force  of  some  partial  attraction." 

Mr.  Harvey  had  suggested  a  line  of  thought  I  had 
not  taken  before,  and'l  was  very  much  impressed  by 
what  he  said.  But  I  had  noticed  a  tall,  spare  gentle- 
man with  uneasy  black  eyes  and  a  narrow  forehead 
sitting  on  the  platform,  and  it  was  he  who  arose  to  pre- 
sent the  other  side  of  the  case. 

*'  Who  is  he  ?  "  1  said,  turning  for  information  to  the 
woman  who  sat  next  to  me. 

"  It  is  Mr.  Trenk,"  she  answered,  and,  as  she  ^irned 
her  face  toward  me,  I  discovered  that  my  neighbor 
was  Mrs.  Trenk.  Doubtless  she  had  saved  for  Ward 
the  seat  which  I  had  hurriedly  taken.  I  cast  a  quick 
glance  around  to  see  if  he  were  near. 


A71  Experivient  in  Marriage.  225 

"  You  are  looking  for  your  friend,"  she  remarked 
with  ready  apprehension.  "  1  do  not  think  he  is  here." 
Then  before  I  could  think  of  a  suitable  rejoinder,  she 
continued  :  "  I  know  you  are  Mr.  Ward's  best  friend. 
I  must  talk  with  you." 

"  Certainly,"  1  answered  in  some  mystification,  "  I 
am  at  your  service  whenever  you  suggest." 

"  Thank  you,"  she  said,  simply.  But,  as  she  made 
no  movement  to  go  out,  I  concluded  I  should  have  the 
privilege  of  hearing  what  Mr.  Trenk  might  have  to  say. 

"  There  may  come  a  time,"  he  said,  "  when  each 
nature  shall  be  so  broad  in  its  scope,  so  rich  in  its  de- 
velopment, that  the  fancy  of  husband  or  wife  shall 
not  flit  from  its  first  object.  That  will  be,  however, 
when  human  nature  is  far  more  fully  cultivated  and 
educated  than  now.  If  each  of  us  does  his  best  to 
select  for  the  object  of  his  love  that  person  who  is  best 
endowed,  as  our  institution  of  free  divorce  and  our 
custom  of  unrestrained  social  intercourse  permit  and 
encourage,  thus  we  are  each  of  us  doing  our  utmost  to 
bring  about  that  completeness  of  character  in  our  chil- 
dren or  at  least  in  our  descendants.  Meanwhile  these 
partial  attractions  will  continue  to  cause  divisions  in 
families,  followed  by  less  satisfactory  remarriages.  Men 
and  women  who  have  enjoyed  as  nearly  harmonious 
relations  as  possible  at  this' stage  of  the  evolution  of 
character  will  be  often  drawn  ajpartby  influences  which 
are  in  their  nature  temporary.  Neither  can  I  so  bitterly 
deplore  these  partial  attractions,  in  their  influences  ou 
men  and  women.  I  regard  them  as  educating  and 
broadening.  Only  through  the  close  intimacy  which 
marriage  gives  the  two  sexes,  can  a  man  understand  the 
quality  or  attainment  in  a  woman  which  attracted 
him.  "  Only  through  marriage  to  a  sensual  woman 
can  a  man  of  partially  awakened  senses  enter  into 
his  full  physical  state.  Only  by  marriage  to  a  man 
of  refinement  can  a  woman  disposed  to  grossness  obtain 
the  education  she  most  needs.  We  are  attracted  in  these 
29 


226  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

side  directions  because  we  there  find  something  our 
characters  need  for  their  complete  equipment.  I  could 
wish  that  each  man  and  woman  might  pass  through  the 
experience  of  the  more  potent  of  these  side  attractions 
before  making  the  marriage  which  approaches  to  the 
ideal,  before  meeting  the  one  who  shall  inspire  the 
deepest  and  most  stimnlating  love.  If  these  partial 
attractions  have  their  sway  in  succession  no  damage  is 
done,  the  education  of  the  man  and  woman  is  com- 
pleted, and  their  culture  attained ;  not  only  without 
risk  to  their  future  and  lasting  happiness,  but  eminently 
assisting,  assuring  and  enhancino^  the  ideal  marriage 
when  it  comes.  So,  instead  of  regretting  the  frequency 
of  divorce  and  the  large  number  of  successive  mar- 
riages under  our  institutions  I  have  only  to  complain 
that  their  number  is  so  small.  These  brief  sexual  in- 
timacies are  the  semesters  of  school  life  for  the  sym- 
pathies, the  passions,  the  understanding.  Sometimes 
the  ideal  man  and  w^oman  meet,  understand  and  re- 
cognize each  other  at  once.  But  generally  it  is  in  pro- 
portion to  the  completion  of  the  education  attained 
through  the  preceding  marriage  relations  that  the  ideal 
marriage  becomes  probable  for  the  man  and  woman. 
To  be  sure  it  is  not  seldom  that  a  man  and  woman, 
ideally  united  to  each  other,  are  separated  by  an  in- 
fluence brought  to  bear  on  one  or  the  other  which 
previous  experiences  have  not  educated  the  unfortunate 
to  withstand.  But  even  in  this  instance  I  fail  to  see 
anything  fatally  disastrous.  If  the  attraction  which 
has  drawn  one  of  the  married  pair  away  —  let  us  say 
it  is  the.  husband  —  is  a  partial  one,  it  must  be  tem- 
porary. The  deserted  one  may  grieve  for  a  while,  but 
she  may  be  sure  to  have  her  o*wn  back  again  if  his 
place  is  there,  all  the  safer  and  better  for  his  wander- 
ing. Their  second  marriage  will  be  more  perfect  than 
their  first." 

"Shall  we  go  now?"  whispered  Mrs.   Trenk.     "I 
will  not  keep  you  away  long." 


A71  Expei'iment  in  Marriage,  227 

I  was  very  sorry  not  to  hear  more  of  wliat  the 
speaker  was  saying,  but  I  also  feh.  curious  to  learn 
what  possible  confidences  Mrs.  Trenk  could  have  with 
me. 

"  I  want  to  speak  to  you  about  Mr.  Ward,"  she  be- 
gan, turning  toward  me  her  face,  which  looked  wan  in 
the  light  of  the  full  moon.  "  I  have  learned  that  you 
are  going  away  to-morrow,  and  1  felt  that  you,  as  his 
friend,  were  the  only  one  I  could  come  to." 

How  did  I  ever  think  her  face  dull  in  its  beauty  ? 
"  Is  there  is  any  way  I  can  help  you  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  I  don't  know  whether  you  can  help  me  or  not.  I 
am  afraid  not."  And  she  clasped  her  white  hands 
unconsciously.  "  I  believe  Mr.  Ward  loves  me,  but 
he  will  not  say  so.  He  looks  upon  me  as  forever  sealed 
to  another  man,  and  I  think  he  would  die  before  he 
spoke." 

She  paused,  expecting  me,  perhaps,  to  reveal  to  her 
some  tender  secret  my  friend  might  have  imparted  to 
me.  But  I  could  only  listen  in  silence.  Then  she  con- 
tinued : 

"I  think  he  would  rather  that  I  died,  too,  than  that 
I  should  confess  to  him  what  he  believes  would  be  a 
shame  to  us  both.  But  he  should  not  have  been  with 
me  so  much  ;  he  should  not  have  talked  with  me  as  no 
other  man  could.  He  might  have  known  I  should 
love  him,  he  is  so  wise,  so  good,  so  kind,  so  true.  I  am 
a  different  woman  since  I  knew  him.  He  has  awakened 
my  whole  soul.  It  is  all  for  him,  but  he  will  not  ask 
for  it ;  he  will  not  take  it." 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Trenk,"  I  began. 

"Ah,"  she  interrupted,  "  I  know  by  your  tone  that 
you  have  no  comfort  to  bestow.  He  must  have  talked 
to  you  then,  of  his  prejudices  against  the  divorce  law 
which  might  make  me  his.  Of  course  I  know  he  has 
done  60.  Probably  you  have  heard  liim  say  he  would 
not  marr}^  a  woman  here  even  if  he  loved  her  l  You 
do  not  deny  it  ? " 


228  An  Experiment  m  Ilarriage, 

"  I  cannot  deny  it,  but  I  hope " 

"Don't  say  4iope'  as  if  you  meant  ^fear.'  lean 
see  you  believe  as  I  do,  that  he  can  never  be  anything 
to  me." 

"  If  there  is  anything  I  can  do,  Mrs.  Trenk,  I  shall 
be  most  happy,"  I  said  earnestly.  I  wondered  less 
every  minute  that  Ward  had  fallen  madly  in  love  with 
her,  especially  if  she  had  blossomed  out  for  him  into 
this  splendid  flower  of  womanhood.  "  Wouldn't  you 
hke  to  have  me  tell  him  how  much  he  is  to  you  ?  It 
might  melt  even  his  iron  resolution.     He  is  human." 

"  Oh,  not  for  worlds,"  she  cried.  "  If  he  were  to 
be  told,  it  is  I  who  should  tell  him,  or  he  would  de- 
spise me  doubly.  I  did  not  come  to  you  for  that.  You 
wiU  promise  not  to  tell  him.  Do  not  even  let  him 
know  we  ever  had  this  conversation," 

I  promised,  and  she  continued  :  "  I  only  wanted  to 
learn  from  you  whether  he  has  ever  told  you,  whether 
he  has  ever  —  ^^ou  are  his  best  friend  I  know,  he  has 
told  me  so  many  times  —  ever  said  to  you  that  he  — 
that  he  loved  me.  I  know  now  he  will  never  tell  me, 
never  ask  me  to  make  him  as  happy  as  I  could  make 
him,  as  I  would  die  to  make  him.  But  I  think  it 
would  be  a  sweet  consolation  to  me,  after  he  has  gone 
away,  to  kifow  —  to  know  from  his  own  words  to  you, 
that  he  loved  me." 

I  was  silent. 

"  You  have  nothing  to  tell  me  ?  "  she  asked,  faintly. 

"  You  forget  what  a  reserved  man  my  friend  and 
yours  is.  You  forget,  too,  how  peculiarly  delicate  he 
would  feel  in  talking,  even  to  me,  about  a  woman  he 
thought  he  could  not  marry.  Eut  I  have  believed 
from  his  changed  manner  that  he  was  deeply  in  love, 
more  so  than  I  have  ever  seen  a  man  before." 

The  woman  fairly  laughed  in  delight. 

"  Oh,  you  are  sure  of  tliat  ?  How  happy  you  make 
me.  *  Deeply  in  love,'  you  sa}',  '  more  than  you  have 
ever  seen  a  man  before.'     I  surely  ought  to  be  satis- 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  229 

fied.  As  you  say,  lie  could  not  have  put  it  in  words  to 
you,  if  he  could  not  to  me.  I  must  go  now."  And 
she  took  a  step  or  two  down  the  street.  "  No,  you 
need  not  come  with  me.  I  am  going  home,  where  I 
can  be  alone,  alone  with  my  joy.  If  he  comes  late 
to  the  hall  he  will  be  sure  to  look  for  me.  You  will 
see  him.  But  he  will  not  know  how  happy  I  shall  be, 
and  in  spite  of  him.  You  could  not  be  mistaken  — 
oh,  of  course  not.  '  Deeply  in  love,'  you  said."  And 
she  passed  rapidly  up  the  street. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  next  morning  Gillette  and  I  set  out  for  the 
East.  It  is  unimportant  for  me  to  go  into  details  as  to 
our  exit  from  Grape  Yalley.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  say 
that  as  soon  as  we  had  reached  the  i-ailroad  line  we  came 
East  as  fast  as  the  latest  modern  appliances  for  killing 
time  and  annihilating  space  could  bring  us.  My  im- 
pressions as  I  alighted  from  our  train  were  most  pecu- 
liar. It  was  as  if  I  w^ere  Avalking  in  a  dream.  The 
tliought  that  this  terrific  bustle,  this  stupendous  activ- 
itj^,  had  been  going  on  for  the  nearly  two  years  w^hich 
I  had  passed  in  the  peaceful  valley,  w^as  inconceivable. 
It  seemed  to  me  it  must  have  commenced  just  as  I  set 
foot  in  Kew  York. 

"  Hello,  old  fellow,"  a  sharp  voice  sounded  in  my 
ear.  I  turned  to  find  my  hand  clasped  by  one  of  my 
old  companions  at  the  club.  Many  were  the  dozens  of 
champagne  we  had  broken  together  over  late  suppers 
and  dinners  to  celebrate  occasions.  It  was  as  if  a  hand 
was  stretched  out  from  another  life,  as  if  the  voice  w^as 
from  another  world,  which  exclaimed  : 

"  Where  have  you  been  for  this  age  ?  " 

Men  in  'Ne^Y  York  do  not  wait  for  answers  unless 
returned  very  speedily,  and  be  continued :  "  But  you 
shall  tell  me  all  that  later.  Dine  with  me  at  seven  to- 
night.    In  the  old  corner,  you  know." 

I  muttered  some  excuse. 

"  Well,  come  around  to  the  ofRce  when  you  have 
time  and  we  will  talk  it  over."     And  he  w^as  off. 

"  I  am  glad  you  sent  him  away,"  said  Gillette,  as  we 
mounted   the  stairs  to  the  elevated  railroad  station. 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  231 

"  The  less  you  see  of  your  old  friends,  just  at  present, 
the  less  liability  there  is  to  enibarrassnieut." 

We  passed  through  the  station  and  took  our  seats  on 
the  train. 

"  It  is  just  four  O'clock,"  he  said,  looking  at  his  watch. 
*'  Now  let  us  lay  out  our  j^lans  between  here  and 
Third  avenue.  1  have  an  errand  up  town,  but  will 
meet  yoa  at  the  "Fifth  Avenue"  at  seven  o'clock. 
We  will  dine,  and  then  I  must  take  you  with  me  to- 
night to  a  party  of  advanced  thinkers.  Don't  fail  to 
be  on  time." 

Gillette  liad  hardly  finished  his  directions  when  the 
train  reached  the  avenue,  and  my  companion  left  me. 
For  a  few  minutes  I  stood  on  the  platform  at  a  loss 
what  to  do.  The  strands  of  my  destiny  were  being  woven 
very  rapidly  then.  One  train  after  another  passed  down 
town,  but  tlie  cries  of  the  conductors  did  not  move  me. 
"South  Ferry"  had  no  special  attraction  for  me. 
"City  Hall"  suggested  no  motive  for  me  to  step 
aboard  the  succeeding  train.  Then  something  within 
me  said  :  "  Why  wait  longer  ?  "  And  as  the  next 
train  swept  up  to  the  platform  I  boarded  it,  careless 
whither  it  took  me.  I  had,  then,  more  than  two  hours 
to  dispose  of.  It  made  little  difference,  I  thought,  what 
I  did  with  them.  But  who  will  say  there  was  no  hid- 
den force  drawing  me  toward  this  very  train  ?  Who 
can  pretend  that  my  destiny  hung  in  the  balances  of 
chance,  and  was  decided  by  the  merest  whim  ?  I 
entered  the  middle  car  and  took  a  seat  between  a  man 
much  the  worse  for  licpior  and  a  plainly-dressed  young 
woman.  I  had  been  so  long  removed  from  the  stimu- 
lating influences  of  metropolitan  life  that  the  mere 
sight  of  so  many  strangers,  each  on  his  own  errand, 
each  oblivious  to  the  rest  of  mankind,  each  an  epitome 
of  life's  history  and  tragedy,  was  cpiite  exciting  to  me. 
I  remarked  peculiarities  which  I  had  not  observed  in 
the  days  when  I  was  a  constant  patron  of  these  trains. 
I  was  especially  impressed,  at  first,  by  the  complete  ab- 


232  An  Ex^teriment  in  Marriage, 

sorption  of  every  passenger  in  liis  own  interests,  Lis 
total  indifference  to  the  sorrows  and  joys  of  others. 
Then  I  undertook  to  study  the  nearer  passengers  in 
detaih  Directly  opposite  me  was  a  man  of  middle  age, 
ruddy,  alert  and  prosperous.  He  was  probably  a 
business  man  going  dow^n  town  to  buy  or  sell  some- 
thing. He  had  no  thought  except  how  he  should 
manage  to  drive  a  sharp  bargain  with  the  other  busi- 
ness man  who  awaited  him.  His  wdiole  life  was  taken 
up  wdth  these  sharp  bargains.  He  reckoned  his  day's 
work  each  night  by  the  number  of  victories  over  less 
shrewd  competitors  which  he  had  won,  and  every  day 
his  heart  grew  less  generous  and  his  soul  dwindled. 
Beside  him  was  a  woman  on  a  shopping  expedition. 
She  was  generously  powdered  and  extravagantly  bedi- 
zened with  jewelry.  She  was  busy  calculating  the 
number  of  yards  it  would  positively  require  for  a  sum- 
mer silk  dress,  and  trying  to  make  up  her  mind  whether 
she  should  spend  for  the  dress  all  of  the  money  she 
had  wheedled  from  her  husband,  or,  buying  something 
cheaper,  save  the  difference  for  her  private  account. 
How  miserable  the  man  who  was  her  husband.  At 
my  right  w^as  the  drunken  man,  a  mechanic,  to  judge 
from  his  dress  and  hands.  His  eyes  were  set  and 
glassy,  his  head  sunk  forward  on  his  breast.  Some 
good  genius  would  doubtless  see  him  home ;  one  al- 
ways attends  on  such  drunken  men.  I  examined  him 
closely.  He  was  in  his  shirt  sleeves  and  still  wore  the 
paper  cap  donned  while  at  work.  His  hands  were 
black  ancl  oily  and  had  left  their  mark  upon  his  face. 
It  was  clear  enough  that  he  had  left  his  work  to  pay  a 
visit  to  some  saloon.  There  he  had  met  some  boon 
companions  and  had  drunk  so  many  healths  that  he 
was  advised  by  the  friends  which  a  drunken  man  al- 
W'ays  makes  not  to  attempt  to  return  to  work,  but  to 
make  the  best  of  his  way  home.  So  home  he  was 
going,  to  a  sorry  welcome  from  his  w^ife,  I  feared. 
At  my  left  was  thejlainly-dressed  young  woman, 


An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage.  233 

and  my  sensibilities  were  so  far  uncalloiised  by  New- 
York  associations  that  I  was  immediately  touched  by 
what  1,  alone  of  all  the  carfull,  seemed  to  notice.  She 
looked  intensely  miserable.  I  have  always  observed 
that  the  faces  of  people  in  great  cities  are  more  expres- 
sive of  the  mind  than  in  small  communities.  It  is  the 
very  multitude  of  spectators  which  relieves  the  con- 
sciousness of  being  observed.  They  think  no  one 
notices,  that  no  one  interests  himself,  and  so  do  not 
take  the  trouble  to  smile  when  they  feel  sad,  or  to  affect 
gaiety  when  suffering  misery.  Perhaps  I  would  not 
have  been  so  impressed  by  the  evident  unhappiness  of 
this  woman,  if  her  face  had  not  been  singularly  attractive 
to  me.  It  was  very  dai^,  and  the  features  were  strong 
in  the  profile,  but  the  mouth,  red  and  perfect  in  its  bow 
shape,  was  all  womanly  in  its  beauty  and  its  sensitive- 
ness. She  was  a  large  woman,  almost  as  tall  as  I,  and 
with  arms  and  shoulders  in  full  proportion,  a  rare 
specimen  of  a  type  of  womanhood  which  always  ap- 
pealed to  my  taste.  But  her  attitude  now  was  one  of  com- 
plete dejection,  and  the  sadness  in  her  eyes,  looking  in 
dull  hopelessness  straight  before  them,  touched  me  ex- 
quisitely. 

I  immediately  forgot  every  one  else  in  the  car,  and 
only  busied  myself  in  devising  some  excuse  for  address- 
ing her.  Surely  it  was  not  decent  that  I  should  sit 
there,  cold  and  indifferent,  while  she  suffered.  As  it 
happened,  if  there  is  such  a  thing  as  chance,  every  one 
except  us  two  and  the  drunken  man,  had  left  the  car 
before  we  reached  Thirty-second  street.  Then  in  a 
sudden  inspiration,  I  turned  to  her. 

"You  are  very  unhappy.  Can  you  trust  me  suffi- 
ciently to  tell  me  why  %  " 

As  she  turned  her  face  toward  me,  I  was  astonished 
at  my  own  temerity  in  inviting  the  scorn  of  a  woman 
of  such  force  and  dignity.  She  seemed  to  study  my 
face  for  an  instant  before  replying. 

"  I  suppose/'  she  answered  slowly,  in  a  sweet  contralto 
30 


234  An  Experiment  m  Marriage. 

voice,  *'  that  I  ought  to  refuse  to  answer  you.  Yet  I 
see  nothing  but  kindliness  in  your  face,  and  I  do  not 
know  why  I  should  not  satisfy  your  interest."  Hers 
was  the  voice  and  speech  of  a  woman  of  education, 
"I  am  wretchedly  and  liopelessly  poor.  Isn't  that 
enough  to  make  me  miserable  ? " 

She  paused  for  me  to  speak.  But  I  was  wise  enough 
to  observe  the  silence  which  is  golden,  and  she  con- 
tinued :  "  I  don't  know  that  I  could  choose  a  safer 
confidant  than  a  stranger,  and  it  may  relieve  my  misery 
a  little  if  I  put  a  part  of  it  into  words.  Certainly  your 
audacity  in  addressing  me  ought  to  have  some  reward." 
And  she  tried  to  smile. 

By  this  time  the  car  was  half  full  again,  and  she  bent 
a  little  toward  me  as  she  spoke  in  a  lower  tone.  "  My 
father  was  that  most  hapless  of  men,  an  inventor.  He 
came  to  New  York  from  a  little  Massachusetts  village, 
where  he  had  enjoyed  a  good  position  and  a  fair  in- 
come, hoping  to  make  his  millions.  He  managed  to 
get  rid  of  his  patent,  poor,  dear  man,  but  he  was  paid 
only  in  promises,  and,  when  he  fell  sick  and  died,  ev^en 
the  promises  were  denied  to  mother  and  me.  We  found 
some  poor  employment  for  a  while,  and  then  I  lost  her 
too.  I  am  now  supposed  to  be  supporting  myself  on 
three  dollars  and  a  half  a  week." 

'^  That  is  terrible,"  I  ejaculated,  hastily.  "  The  man 
who  pays  you  such  a  pittance  ought  to  be  drawn  and 
quartered.' ' 

"Oh,  no,"  she  answered,  bitterly.  "The  man  who 
gives  me  that  pittance,  saves  me  from  starvation.  You 
asked  me  why  1  am  so  unhappy.  I  think  I  have  given 
you  sufficient  reason." 

This  conclusion  to  her  sentence  was  plainly  intended 
as  a  dismissal  of  the  subject  and  of  me. 

"  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  dine  with  me,"  I  said 
hurriedly,  trying  to  look  unconscious  of  her  surprised 
look.  Then  I  hurried  on :  *'  To  be  sure  we  have 
not  been  formally  introduced,  but  I  do  not  know  as 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  235 

that  is  a  reason  why  I  should  sit  down  to  my  dinner 
alone." 

A  sudden  rush  of  color  made  her  face  positively 
brilliant  for  an  instant.  Warned  by  the  signal,  I  made 
haste  to  drop  my  unwisely  frivolous  manner  and  to  add, 
more  seriously  :  "  What  you  tell  ihe  of  yourself  and  of 
your  life  interests  me  extremely.  I  shall  regard  it  as 
a  kindness  if  by  accepting  my  invitation  to  dinner  you 
prolong  our  interview  for  a  few  minutes  more." 

She  made  no  reply,  which  of  itself  was  a  favorable 
sign.  Pool"  girl,  doubtless  the  gnawings  of  hunger  were 
pleading  more  powerfully  than  any  words  of  mine  could 
do.  Prompt  to  make  the  most  of  my, temporary  ad- 
vantage. I  rose  as  the  guard  opened  the  door  and  called 
the  number  of  the  street. 

"Here  is  our  station,"  I  said  in  a  matter-of-fact  tone. 
As  she  stood,  I  noticed  what  a  faultlessly  powerful 
tignre  she  had.  We  descended  the  station  steps  and, 
without  further  attempt  at  conversation,  I  conducted 
her  to  the  nearest  restaurant  and  ordered  dinner.  As 
the  plates  containing  the  soup  were  set  before  us,  she 
gave  me  a  pitiful,  appeahng  glance,  as  if  in  apology  for 
the  uncontrollable  expression  of  hunger  which  was  on 
her  face.  My  eyes  moistened  and  my  food  choked  me. 
If  I  had  not  offered  this  poor  gift  of  a  dinner,  she  would 
at  this  moment  have  been  suffering  as  it  is  worse  than 
heartless  to  permit  a  creature  of  the  shambles  to  suffer. 

I  did  not  attempt  to  talk  with  her,  except  in  the  most 
desultory  way,  until  dessert  was  served.  Then  she  said  : 
"  I  do  not  quite  understand  why  you  make  the  peculiar 
impression  which  you  do  on  me.  You  seem  familiar 
with  New  York  and  yet  there  is  an  air  of  strangeness 
about  you." 

"  You  are  very  discerning,"  I  replied..  '*  I  feel  just 
as  I  look,  familiar  and  yet  strange.  I  am  an  old  Sew 
Yorker,  but  have  been  away  for  two  years." 

"  Are  you  going  to  stay  in  New  York,  now  that  you 
have  returned  T' 


236  An  Exi)eriment  in  Marriage, 

"  Only  for  a  short  time,"  I  answered.  "  New  York 
lias  too  much  unhappiDess.  I  think  it  would  break  ray 
heart  to  live  here." 

Then  there  came  a  pause,  after  which  she  said :  "  I 
am  afraid  I  am  not  entertaining  you.  You  forget  your 
excuse  for  asking  me  to  dinner."  Her  eyes  were  down- 
cast as  she  added,  in  a  new  and  softer  tone:  ''But  I 
now  know  it  was  only  a  pretense.  You  saw  I  was 
hungry  and  it  made  you  miserable." 

"  Oh,  but  I  assure  you ,"  I  began. 

"Ah,  there  is  no  need  to  apologize  for  your  courtesy." 
Then  she  rose  from  her  seat.  "  But  I  must  detain  you 
no  longer.  Believe  me  I  appreciate  your  delicacy  as 
well  as  your  kindness.  It  is  not  so  often  they  are 
united." 

As  we  reached  the  sidewalk  again  she  held  out  her 
hand  to  me.  "  Good-bye,"  an*d  she  smiled  with  a  sweet 
sadness.  "  You  are  a  fairy  prince  to  work  such  mira- 
cles for  me,  and  then  disappear  forever." 

"  Yet  I  do  not  propose  to  disappear  just  now  un- 
less you  command  it,"  I  said  with  sudden  r-esolution. 
My  relation  with  ray  new  acquaintance  was  so  unusual 
that  it  was  already  stirring  my  imagination  danger- 
ously. To  be  a  deus  ex  machina  for  a  lovely  woman 
is  indeed  a  most  fascinating  position  for  an}^  man. 
Thoughts  of  what  hnr  life  would  be  when  I  was  once 
more  taken  out  of  it  came  over  me,  of  the  wretch- 
edness which  must  be  her  daily  portion  with  no  one  to 
relieve  it  except  at  the  price  of  her  honor. 

"  What  then  'i  "  she  asked,  without  looking  me  in  the 
face. 

"  To  begin  with,"  I  said,  "I  want  to  know  where 
you  live." 

"  I  am  ashamed,"  she  began.  "  But  why  should  I 
be  ashamed?  1  will  show  you  my  home,  if  that  is  the 
])roper  name  for  the  place  where  I  sleep  and  weep. 
But  it  is  some  little  distance  from  here."  Then  she 
turned  her  face  toward  me  with  a  new,  bright  expres- 


Afi  Experiment  in  Marriage.  237 

sion  in  it.   *'  But  you  haven't  even  asked  mj  name  yet. 
It  is  Kuth." 

"  And  mine  is  Harry  Yinton,  at  your  service,"  I 
said,  as  we  slowly  walked  along  together. 

''  Have  you  written  a  novel  ?  "  she  asked  w^ith  new 
excitement. 

*'  Four  of  them,  if  I  remember  aright,"  I  an- 
swered. 

"Then  you  are  not  a  stranger  to  me  after  all,"  she 
exclaimed,  with  a  low,  sweet  laugh.  "  Why  didn't  you 
tell  me  before  ? " 

This  was  very  gracefully  said,  and  my  heart  gave  a  new 
thrill  as  she  bestowed  that  last  confiding  look  upon  me. 

As  we  at  last  reached  the  narrow  hall  way  she  said  : 
"  Here  is  my  home.  Good-bye."  And  she  reached  out 
her  hand. 

"  J^ot  quite  yet,"  I  said  with  a  laugh.  "I  suppose 
you  must  live  in  some  one  of  the  upper  rooms  here. 
But  I  do  not  know  wdiich.  I  may  want  to  find  you 
again." 

She  did  not  smile  nor  indeed  look  at  me  as  she  re- 
plied :  "  You  will  not  have  occasion  to  see  me  again. 
But  I  shall  always  remember  you.  Such  kindness, 
such  gentleness  and  such  delicacy,  who  could  ever 
forget  them  ? " 

"  Doesn't  it  seem,"  I  said,  ''  as  if  some  influence  be- 
yond our  knowledge,  but  none  the  less  real,  had  brought 
us  together  just  when  you  needed  me  most  ?  "  I  asked, 
and  she  turned  her  dark  face  toward  me  with  new  in- 
terest, as  I  continued  :  "I  had  a  few  hours  to  spare, 
and  had  waited  at  that  station  while  several  trains 
passed.  Finally,  at  a  venture,  as  I  thought,  I  took  the 
train  you  were  in,  entered  your  car  and  seated  myself 
by  your  side." 

'*  Yes,"  she  answered,  her  voice  vibrating  with  feel- 
ing, "  and  how  strange  that  I  sliould  have  been  on  that 
very  train  ?  There  was  no  work  for  me  in  the  box 
factory  this  afternoon,  and  I  had  taken  the  opportunity 


238  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

to  apply,  in  answer  to  an  advertisement,  for  a  position 
as  nurse  maid  up  town.  Unsuccessful,  and  with  only 
a  few  pennies  in  my  pocket,  which  was  my  world,  I 
took  the  train  which  you  were  to  board.  I  was  on  my 
way  to  the  poor  chamber  which  now  awaits  me  up 
stairs.  I  should  liave  been  weeping  there  in  hopeless, 
friendless  misery  during  the  hour  I  have  spent  so 
happily  with  you." 

A  young  woman,  slatternly  in  dress  and  brazen  in 
aspect,  stopped  on  the  sidewalk  and  stared  at  us  for  an 
instant.  Then  she  brushed  against  us  on  her  way  in- 
side, and  went  up  stairs.  At  the  tirst  landing  the  woman 
paused  to  look  at  us  again,  and  catching  my  eye  she 
gave  me  a  significant  smile.  I  knew  what  was  in  her 
mind,  and  flushed  with  a  sense  of  insult.  But  I  no- 
ticed my  companion  was  unconscious  of  it  all. 

''  Is  it  so  impossible,"  i  asked,  "  that  1  might  have 
felt  your  need  of  me  before  I  even  knew  of  your  ex- 
istence, and  was  drawn  by  that  potent  influence  to  take 
the  train  which  carried  you,  to  seat  myself  by  you,  and 
then,  when  I  saw  the  unhappiness  on  your  face,  to 
make  so  bold  as  to  address  3^ou  ?  " 

"I  should  like  to  beheve  it,"  she  said,  softly.  Then 
there  was  a  pause,  and  she  added :  "  But  1  must  not 
detain  you  longer." 

A  sort  of  impatience  with  her  seized  me.  "  Do  you 
really  mean  that  we  shall  see  each  other  no  more?"  1 
demanded  ;  "  that  I  shall  go  my  way,  and  you  go  yours 
to  hopeless  poverty  ?  " 

'^  What  else  can  I  expect?  "  she  said,  in  that  low  tone 
of  hers.  "  Our  lives  will  never  cross  each  other  again. 
But  I  shall  not  be  quite  as  unhappy  again,  I  think." 

A  sudden  thought  struck  me. 

"Let  us  live  one  day  at  a  time,"  I  said.  "  Can't  you 
get  away  from  your  work  to-morrow  ?  " 

"I  shall  have  nothing  to  do,"  she  answered,  sadly. 
^*  Work  is  so  dull  that  I  was  not  to  go  back  until 
Saturday. " 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  239 

"  Then  I  have  it,"  I  exclaimed,  laying  my  hand  lightly 
on  hers  as  I  spoke.  "  What  do  yon  say  to  a  day  with 
me  at  Coney  Island?" 

A  iinsli  of  undeuiable  pleasnre  suffnsed  her  olive 
cheeks  and  then  faded  away. 

"  I  don't  think  it  wonld  be  well.*' 

"  Why  not?  "  I  insisted.  "  You  can  trust  me.  You 
said  that  since  you  knew  my  name  it  made  me  an  old 
friend." 

'*I  would  doubt  everything  else  first,"  she  said, 
slowly.  "  Bnt  think  yourself  how  much  better  for  me 
not  to  have  such  a  happy  experience,  how  much  blacker 
by  contrast  it  would  leave  my  life  afterward." 

I  was  still  touching  her  hand.  But  now  I  took  it  in 
both  mine  and  pressed  it  gently.  "  Do  it  to  please 
me.  Meet  me  at  pier  ]N"o.  1  so  we  can  take  the  half- 
past  eleven  o'clock  boat.  Promise,"  I  said.  Then 
she  hurriedly  caught  her  hand  away  as  she  answered  : 
''  I  promise  then."     And  she  left  me. 

It  was  a  few  minutes  after  seven  o'clock  that  I  en- 
tered the  corridor  of  the  "Fifth  Avenue"  and  saw 
Gillette  walking  up  and  down  evidently  in  some  im- 
patience.    He  came  np  to  me  at  once. 

"  I  was  afraid  something  had  detained  you,"  he  said. 
Then  taking  my  arm  :  "  Let  us  go  in  to  dinner  at  once. 
We  shall  have  none  too  much  time  afterward  to  dress 
and  reach  where  we  are  expected." 

"I  have  dined,"  I  remarked.  "  But  I  have  no  ob- 
jection to  watching  you  follow  suit." 

"Dined?  Well,  that  was  considerate  I  must  say. 
But  I'll  excuse  you  this  time.  I  suppose  you  met  a 
friend." 

"  Yes,"  I  answered,  slowly,  as  we  made  our  way  to 
a  table.     "I  met  a  friend." 

Gillette  ordered  his  dinner  in  a  careless  style  which 
would  have  broken  the  heart  of  that  accomplished 
student  of  the  menu,  my  friend  Ward.  Then  turning 
to  me :  "  L  hope,  though,  that  you  will  try  to  keep 


240  An  ExperiTnent  in  Marriage, 

clear  of  entangling  alliances  while  in  New  York  this 
time." 

I  smiled  at  the  very  apt  advice  Gillette  was  iincon- 
sciouslj  giving  me,  but  thought  it  well  enongh  to 
change  the  course  of  the  conversation.  "  Where  are 
yon  going  to  take  me  to-night,  by  the  way  ?  " 

"  To  a  west  side  reception.  The  hostess  is  a  dab- 
bler in  all  sorts  of  radicalism,  and  radicals  of  both  sexes 
meet  there.  I  have  obtained  an  invitation  for  you  and 
for  myself,  and  hope  we  may  be  able  to  drop  a  little 
good  seed.     But  let  me  eat  now." 

When  at  last  we  were  in  a  carriage  and  riding 
rapidly  across  the  city,  Gillette  found  more  time  to  tell 
me  something  about  the  class  of  people  we  shonld 
meet. 

"But,"  I  objected,  "don't  you  think  that  we  could 
do  more  good  both  for  our  community  and  for  the 
world  by  seeking  a  different  line  of  converts  ?  Why 
can't  we  make  a  hundred  proselytes  among  the  un- 
fortunate and  those  suffering  from  want  while  we  fail 
often  among  these  advanced  thinkers  and  theorists?" 

"  I  don't  know  but  there  is  something  in  what  you 
say,"  said  Gillette,  thoughtfully.  "  We  will  talk  about 
it  later,  but  let  ns  do  what  we  can  to-night." 

I  imagine  Gillette  did  very  little.  As  for  myself  I 
could  not  induce  any  one  to  listen  to  me  long  enough 
to  make  the  attempt  of  proselyting  judicious.  After 
a  few  ineffective  efforts  to  inculcate  my  ideas  I  gave 
up  in  despair.  Everybody  seemed  to  have  a  cult  to 
urge,  a  theory  to  expound,  a  scheme  of  religion,  science 
or  philosophy  to  set  forth.  It  was  only  out  of  decency  that 
they  listened  to  others  while  eagerly  waiting  an  oppor- 
tunity to  discourse  each  of  his  own  peculiar  doctrines. 
One  after  the  other  we  were  all  taken  into  corners  and 
labored  with  by  this  or  that  radical,  and  expected  to 
grow  enthusiastic  as  the  beautiful  points  of  the  dif- 
ferent theories  were  brought  out.  The  women  indeed 
were  the  most  inveterate  proselytes  of  all.   They  argued 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  241 

with  their  beautiful  eyes  as  well  as  with  their  tongues, 
and  a  gentleman  felt  that  he  was  very  unchivalrous 
unless  he  appeared,  at  least,  to  be  convinced.  There 
was  the  spiritualist  and  the  tlieosophist,  the  material- 
ist and  loudest  of  all  the  agnostic,  the  old-fashioned 
atheist,  too,  and  the  Darwinian,  the  Swedenborgian, 
the  humanitarian,  the  positivist.  Each  one  said  many 
true  and  suggestive  things,  but  all  were  extravagant 
in  their  intolerance,  and  furious  in  their  confidence 
that  if  the  world  would  but  open  its  eyes  to  the  truth, 
as  theorized  upon  by  its  expounder,  tlie  millennium 
would  be  at  hand. 

All  varieties  of  social  reforms  were  represented.  A 
man  was  at  my  ear  at  one  minute  who  believed  that 
by  a  modification  of  the  land  tax  every  inequality 
would  be  cured  and  each  one  insured  his  deserts. 
Then  I  was  taken  in  hand  by  the  advocate  of  a  sys- 
tem of  profit  sharing,  as  the  long-awaited  panacea  for 
human  ills.  Then  would  come  the  prophet  of  woman 
suffrage  claiming  that,  when  women  were  enfranchised, 
good  laws,  and  those  only,  would  be  passed,  and  a  new 
moral  tone  and  trustwortlw  public  opinion  would  be 
formed.  Another  man  looked  to  the  regeneration  of 
the  world  through  the  universal  banishment  of  alco- 
holic liquors;  another  expected  it  from  some  new 
scheme  of  universal  education ;  another,  from  some 
change  in  the  machinery  of  government.  Each  and 
all  had  ear  for  nothing  but  talk  of  his  own  patent. 
They  tired  me.  They  disgusted  me  with  logic  itself, 
which  could  be  made  to  prove  so  many  inconsistent 
theories.  I  had  found  one  unpretending  motherly  lit- 
tle woman  who  was  inclined  to  talk  to  me  about  her 
wonderful  children.  With  her  I  retired  into  a  peace- 
ful corner,  and  was  glad  to  be  treated  to  the  smart  say- 
ings of  her  precocious  babies  until  Gillette  came  to 
take  me  back  to  the  hotel. 

"  It  is  a  wasted  evening,"  he  said,  as  we  parted  for 
the  night.     "  These  men  and  women  are  not  the  sort 
31 


242  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

we  could  touch  if  we  offered  them  a  paradise  ready 
made.  Each  one  must  have  reform  brought  about  by 
his  own  scheme  or  be  will  bave  none  of  it." 

"  Surely,"  I  said,  '^  it  was  not  from  such  people  as 
these  your  colony  was  first  made  up  ?  " 

"  No  ;  we  saw  to-nigbt  only  the  charlatans  of  the 
radical  world,  those  who  make  a  show  of  their  ideas, 
who  j)reacb  them  only  to  gratify  their  personal  vanity. 
I  have  never  tried  before  to  j^roselyte  what  should  be 
called  the  society  radical.  I  shall  not  need  to  repeat 
the  experiment.  There  may  be  a  good  deal  in  what 
you  suggest,  to  seek  further  additions  to  our  com- 
munity from  those  who  have  come  to  ideas  like  ours 
through  experience  and  suffering." 

"  That  would  be  practical  philanthropy,  too,"  I 
answered,  "  and  on  the  grandest  conceivable  scale. 
Let  us  make  Grape  Yalley  a  haven  of  rest  for  the  suf- 
fering and  the  distressed,  and  when  Grape  Valley  be- 
comes too  small,  search  out  new  valleys  or  isles  of  the 
sea,  which  shall  serve  as  the  promised  land  for  the 
happy  multitudes  we  shall  yet  lead  out  of  the  land  of 
bondage." 

Gillette  seemed  plunged  in  thought,  but  made  no 
reply. 

"  ]^J  the  way,"  I  exclaimed,  "  what  are  your  plans 
for  to-morrow  ? " 

''  I  have  business  which  will  occupy  me  all  day  to- 
morrow," he  answered,  "fill  out  your  day  to  suit  your- 
self. The  next  day,  that  will  be  Saturday,  I  will  call 
you  in  again,  and  I  hope  to  more  purpose." 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

At  eleven,  the  next  forenoon,  I  was  at  Pier  I^o.  1. 
It  occurred  to  me  that  Euth  might  be  early.  Women 
are  divided  into  two  great  classes  by  the  standard  of 
promptness.  Those  of  one  class  are  always  late  at  their 
appointments,  those  of  the  other  class  are  ahead  of  time. 
There  is  no  third  class,  I  think.  The  few  hours  of  my 
acquaintance  with  Kuth  had  not  been  sufficient  to 
classify  her,  and  I  went  early  myself,  so  that,  if  it  hap- 
pened that  she  belonged  to  tlie  class  of  those  who  an- 
ticipate their  appointments,  she  should  experience  no 
uneasiness  in  waiting  for  me.  I  walked  the  full  length 
of  the  waiting-room,  and  made  sure  she  was  not  there. 
1  took  the  opportunity  to  buy  tickets,  and  then  souglit 
a  position  where  I  could  see  her  when  she  entered. 
How  strange  our  meeting  had  been.  How  unusual 
the  interest  she  had  inspired  in  me.  But  would  it  out- 
last so  thorough  a  test  as  that  to  which  this  day  would 
subject  it  ?  In  the  forenoon  a  man  is  disposed  to  take 
rather  prosaic  views  of  life,  and  I  now  began  to  be 
sceptical  as  to  the  reality  of  the  charms  of  my  new  ac- 
quaintance. It  was  very  natural  that  I  should  have 
been  interested  the  previous  afternoon  in  my  protege. 
To  occupy  the  attitude  of  a  kind  Providence  toward  a 
young  woman  is  most  pleasing  in  itself.  A  man  is  apt 
to  regard  a  woman,  under  such  conditions,  with  feelings 
of  marked  complacency,  even  if  she  be  quite  ordinary. 
But  doubtless  I  had  been  indiscreet  in  arranging  for  so 
long  a  time  in  her  society.  She  would  weary  me.  It 
would  have  been  far  kinder  to  her  if  I  had  insisted 
upon  leaving  her  some  generous   present,   and  then 


244  An  Ex])eriment  in  Marriage, 

wished  her  good  evening,  and  more  considerate  of  my- 
self, too.  In  all  my  previous  years  in  New  York,  I 
had  not  done  so  injudicious  a  thing.  My  experience 
at  Grape  Yalley  must  have  increased  my  susceptibility, 
or  else  my  common  sense  had  been  suffered  to  run  to 
seed. 

With  a  yawn  I  glanced  at  my  watch.  It  was  twenty 
minutes  past  eleven.  The  girl  was  due  now,  if  she  were 
coming.  1  examined  with  closer  attention  the  faces  of 
those  who  entered.  I  must  be  careful  she  did  not  pass 
me  unrecognized  in  the  crowd.  Probably  my  idea  of 
her  and  her  actual  appearance  were  quite  different.  I 
finally  took  a  position  on  the  sidewalk,  where  I  could 
see  up  and  down  the  street.  But  there  was  no  figure 
like  hers  in  sight.  Her  sound  judgment  had  reminded 
her  how  foolish  it  would  be  to  pursue  my  acquaintance 
further.     She  must  have  decided  not  to  come. 

Then  I  glanced  most  anxiously  at  my  watch.  It  was 
twenty-five  minutes  past  eleven.  My  indifference  was 
all  gone.  I  looked  with  painful  impatience  in  all 
directions.  But  everybody  seemed  going  from  the 
pier,  instead  of  approaching  it.  There  was  no  use  to 
look  any  more.  The  last  bell  would  ring  in  a  moment. 
I  turned  away  from  the  street  and  stood  staring  with 
envious  eyes  after  the  men  who  had  ladies  with  them, 
as  they  hurried  up  the  stairs.  One  fact  was  clear.  I 
should  never  see  Ruth  again.  Eutli  —  I  did  not  even 
know  her  last  name.  I  had  been  thoughtless  enough 
not  to  insist  that  she  give  it  to  me.  I  could  not  find 
her,  of  course,  without  knowing  her  full  name.  She 
was  lost  out  of  my  life  forever.  She  must  suffer  all  her 
sorrows,  bear  all  her  burdens  alone.  It  was  denied  me 
to  bring  a  smile  to  her  lips  again  or  to  gladden  her  eyes. 
The  fate  that  seemed  so  kind  yesterday  shut  us  apart 
to-day  with  an  eternal  barrier,  which  it  seemed  impossi- 
ble to  overleap.  But  I  would  find  her.  I  could  describe 
her,  and  with  her  first  name  to  help  me,  I  would  in- 
qiiire  of  every  tenant  in  the  block  where  was  her  poor 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  245 

room.  I  would  not  submit  to  losing  lier.  1  would 
force  myself  upon  lier.  Suddenly  a  thrill  seemed  to 
pass  over  me.  1  turned  to  my  right  and  saw  almost 
touching  me,  but  still  unconscious  of  my  nearness, 
Kuth,  at  last. 

"  We  have  just  time  to  catch  the  boat,"  I  cried,  and 
taking  her  hand,  I  added  :  "  if  we  run." 

And  run  we  did,  and  so  well  that  though  we  were 
the  last  ones  through  the  gate  before  it  closed,  yet  we 
were  aboard  the  boat  when  the  paddle  wheels  began 
their  noisy  revolutions. 

"  That  was  a  close  race  against  time,"  I  said,  breath- 
lessly, as  we  passed  through  the  cabin  on  our  way  to  the 
deck.  ''  But  I  felt  as  if  to  catch  that  boat  was  worth 
risking  onr  lives  for." 

"  It  is  all  my  fault.  I  shouldn't  have  been  so  late," 
she  answered,  as  we  took  our  seats  on  the  shady  side, 
and  looked  out  upon  the  most  beautiful  harbor  on  the 
Atlantic  coast. 

"How  did  it  happen?"  I  asked. 

''  I  am  almost  ashamed  to  tell  ¥ou,"  she  said,  giving 
me  an  apologetic  look.  "  Last  night  I  lay  for  hours 
thinking,  and  then  dreaming  how  happy  I  should  be 
to-day;  but  when  I  awoke  m  the  morning,  it  seemed  to 
me  that  happiness  had  no  place  in  my  life  and  I  decided 
not  to  go." 

The  harbor  lost  its  interest  for  me  and  I  looked  into 
Ruth's  dark,  sensitive  face. 

But  I  said  nothing  and  she  continued  :  ''  I  thought, 
too,  that  you  must  have  repented  of  ycur  rash  invita- 
tion, and  would  be  only  relieved  that'll  did  not  come 
and  would  say :  '  Ah,  she  was  a  sensible  girl  after  all.' 
Wouldn't  you  have  said  so?"  Her  black  eyes  scruti- 
nized my  face  very  keenly. 

"I  should  have  been  intensely  disappointed,'-  I  an- 
swered, speaking  of  course  for  the  latter  part  of  my 
period  of  waiting.  ^'  You  know,  I  concluded  you  had 
failed  me,  and  so  I  can  "Deak  trom  actual  exi^erience." 


246  An  Exjje^'iment  in  Marriage. 

She  smiled  with  winning  sweetness  and  continued : 
"  Just  why  I  dressed  myself  for  the  trip  I  cannot  tell. 
I  kept  telling  myself  that  it  was  only  because  I  was 
going  in  search  of  a  new  position.  But  something 
made  me  di-ess  myself,  even  to  the  ruffle  at  my  neck, 
just  as  if  I  were  to  go  with  you.  But  all  the  time  I 
reminded  myself  that  I  had  made  a  firm  and  unalter- 
able determination  not  to  come  and  so  not  see  you  again. 
I  sat  down  to  my  sewing  Avhere  I  could  see  the  old 
clock  which  I  had  kept  when  almost  everything  of  ni}^ 
mother's  w^as  sold.  For  two  hours  I  did  not  appreciate 
the  full  measure  of  the  sacrifice  I  had  decided  to  make, 
because  it  was  far  from  the  time  when  I  needed  to  set 
out  for  the  boat  if  I  were  to  come.  I  remember  now 
that  once  I  let  my  sewing  fall  in  my  lap  while  I 
nicely  calculated  that  it  would  take  me  just  half  an 
hour  to  walk  to  pier  iSTo.  1.  It  was  only  half -past  nine 
then.     But  1  am  tiresome.     Excuse  me." 

"  Tiresome  ?  "  I  exclaimed,  with  one  of  those  great 
heart  throbs  which  are  so  full  of  pain  and  yet  of 
rapture.  ''  I  cannot  tell  you  how  intensely  you  interest 
me." 

"  "Well,  when  it  was  half-past  ten  o'clock  my  heart 
began  to  sink.  The  full  meaning  of  what  I  was  sac- 
rificing came  over  me.  The  day  was  the  finest,  I 
thought,  I  had  ever  known.  I  used  to  so  love  the 
sea,  but  I  had  never  been  down  New  York  harbor." 
Then  she  lowered  her  voice,  and  looked  far  away  over 
the  water  as  she  added  :  "And  I  so  wanted  to  see  you 
once  more.  I  felt  I  had  but  half  thanked  you.  I 
wanted  to  tell  you  that  I  should  alw^ays  think  you  the 
grandest,  the  truest,  the  best  of  men.  I  then  threw  my 
sewing  upon  the  floor.  I  would  go  after  all.  A  wild, 
exultant  joy  filled  me.  I  pitied  the  whole  world  be- 
side. I  thought  of  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  girls 
bending  at  that  instant  over  their  ill-paid  tasks,  and 
pitied  them  because  they  could  have  no  delight  like 
mine.     I  pitied  rrxyself  of  a  moment  a^^o  sitting  at  my 


A71  Mcperiment  in  Marriage.  247 

sewing  with  tears  in  mj  eyes  and  an  ache  in  my 
bosom.  I  put  on  my  Lat,  made  the  last  few  adjust- 
ments in  the  room  where  I  had  passed  such  miserable 
liours  in  the  forever  past,  as  for  the  moment  I  strangely 
regarded  it.  I  had  even  reached  the  door  when  I  gave 
a  last  glance  around  the  room.  Then  my  fancy  re- 
lentlessly pictured  my  returning  there  to-night,  my 
only  too  brief  holiday  over,  my  one  joyful  day  past, 
and  I  back  again  to  take  up  my  wretched  life  like 
that  of  so  many  millions  more.  I  could  imagine  my- 
self groping  for  the  mantel,  and,  finding  there  a  match, 
striking  it,  and  lighting  the  kerosene  lamp  which  stood 
on  the  table.  Then  I  would  look  about  me,  at  the  bare 
walls,  at  the  carpetless  floor,  at  the  poor,  torn  working 
dress  on  which  I  had  been  sewing,  at  the  ill-furnished 
bed  where  I  should  soon  lie  sobbing  in  uncontrollable 
desolation,  ten  tijnes  more  intolerable  after  my  one  day 
of  happiness.'^ 

The  tears  came  to  my  eyes  in  spite  of  myself.  What 
an  accursed  mechanism  was  the  human  heart  to  be  ca- 
pable of  such  sickening  misery  as  this  of  hers.  I  could 
not  trust  my  voice,  but  I  took  her  hand  as  it  lay  on 
the  railing,  and,  unconscious  of  what  I  did,  carried  it 
to  my  lips  and  then  released  it.  I  do  not  think  she 
appreciated  w^hat  I  was  doing,  as  she  continued  her 
story  without  change  of  voice. 

"  I  returned  to  my  chair,  and  bowing  my  head  over 
my  hands,  resigned  myself  to  my  fate,  and  bade  you 
good-bye  forever.  How  long  I  sat  thus,  I  cannot  tell, 
but  when  I  looked  at  the  clock  again  the  hands  pointed 
to  quarter-past  eleven.  It  w^as  now  too  late.  It  re- 
quired at  least  a  half  hour  to  reach  the  pier,  and  there 
were  but  fifteen  minutes.  Even  if  I  changed  my  mind 
I  could  not  reach  the  ooat  in  time.  Then,  woman- 
like, I  upbraided  myself  for  my  folly.  That  I  must  be 
miserable  hereafter  was  surely  no  reason  why  I  should 
refuse  a  joy  for  to-day.  Would  I  not  be  miserable 
when  night  should  come,  a§Jt  was,  and  with  a  fresh 


248  An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage. 

sorrow,  a  new  torment  because  I  had  thrown  away 
a  cliance  for  a  day  whose  pure  delight  would  furnish 
mj  memory  for  a  life-time.  Something  in  my  throat 
choked  me.  A  deadly  congestion  seemed  settling 
about  my  heart.  I  wished  I  might  die.  I  wondered 
whether  it  would  make  a  quick  end  of  me  to  leap  from 
my  window.  It  was  at  this  moment  that  I  heard  foot- 
steps in  the  hall  and  a  man's  voice  calling  to  some 
questioner  up  another  story.  *  What  do  you  want  ? ' 
1  heard  a  shrill  voice  call  down  the  bannisters  :  '  The 
clock  has  stopped.  What  time  is  it  ? '  Alas  I  knew 
too  well  the  time.  My  own  solemn-faced  clock  said 
fifteen  minutes  past  eleven,  but  the  man  answered 
crossly  :  ^  You  always  forget  to  wind  it.  Well,  it  is 
^\'?.  minutes  past  eleven.'  I  leaped  to  my  feet  in  sud- 
den response.  But  this  was  a  mockery.  The  man 
must  be  wrong.  Then  I  heard  the  querulous  woman's 
voice  call  down  once  more :  'Are  you  sure  % '  I  held 
my  breath.  My  fate  hung  on  his  answer.  It  came 
sharp  and  clear  :  '  Sure  ?  Of  course  I  am.  I  set  it  at 
the  jeweler's  an  hour  ago.'  Then  there  was  yet  time  to 
catch  the  boat,  if  I  ran.  And,  without  stopping  even  to 
lock  my  door,  I  rushed  down  stairs.  I  was  so  nearly 
blind  in  my  excitement  that  T  collided  with  foot  pas- 
sengers right  and  left,  but  I  did  not  look  behind  me,  nor 
stop  to  make  excuses.  It  had  taken  me  but  eight  min- 
utes to  reach  Broadway,  and  my  heart  beat  high  ^vith 
hope.  But  there  the  street  was  densely  blockaded. 
Drays,  street  cars  and  private  carriages  were  packed  so 
close  that  they  made  almost  a  solid  wall.  I  waited  for 
a  few  seconds  for  a  passage  to  be  opened,  but,  seeing 
none,  I  started  to  force  my  way  through.  I  ran 
under  the  heads  of  snorting  horses,  dodged  the  poles 
of  truck  wagons,  and  was  half  way  across  the  street 
when  an  absolutely  impenetrable  blockade  shut  me 
in.  I  could  not  go  forward,  I  would  not  go  back. 
So  I  took  refuge  on  the  platform  of  a  street  car,  and 
waited  it  seemed   almost  a  life-time.     At  last  I  could 


An  Ex^erhnent  in  Marriage,  249 

see  light  between  me  and  the  farther  sidewalk,  and 
hurried  through  the  perilous  and  uncertain  alley,  in 
spite  of  the  warnings  of  drivers  and  the  gesticulations 
of  policemen.  I  drew  a  blessed  breath  of  relief  and 
walked  rapidly  on  my  course.  It  was  now  that  I 
glanced  at  a  clock  in  front  of  a  jeweler's  store,  and 
read  the  terrible  time.  It  was  twenty-four  minutes 
past  eleven.  A  carriage  happened  to  stand  by  the 
curbing,  and  I  cried  hastily  to  the  driver :  *  What  will 
you  charge  to  get  me  to  the  Coney  Island  boat  before 
half-past  eleven  ? '  The  driver  took  out  his  watch. 
*  It  will  be  a  close  call  to  do  it.  Well,  one  dollar.'  I 
drew  out  my  purse  and  counted  out  two  ten  cent  pieces 
and  a  twenty-five  cent  piece.  '  This  is  all  I  have  in  the 
world,'  I  said.  '  Will  you  take  me  for  this  % '  He 
gave  me  a  sharp  look,  and  I  think  believed  me.  He 
reached  down  and  took  my  money.  ^  In  with  you, 
quick,'  he  said,  and  before  the  door  had  fairly  closed 
we  were  in  motion.  The  awful  suspense,  the  cold  ter- 
ror I  felt  at  the  prospect  that  I  should  be  late  after  all, 
were  the  most  agonizing  experiences  even  I  had  ever 
had.  A  score  of  times,  in  imagination,  I  saw  the  car- 
riage stop,  the  driver  open  the  door  for  me,  give  a 
quick  glance  at  the  dock,  and  I  seemed  to  hear  him  say  : 
'  We  are  just  too  late,  Miss,  but  I  done  my  best.' 
Then  a  mist  seemed  to  come  before  my  eyes,  and  a 
w^oman  who  looked  like  me  but  who  was  fairly  stag- 
gering with  the  intoxication  of  despair,  walked  slowly 
back.  Surely  there  could  be  no  worse  sufiering  in 
store  for  me  after  that.  Then  came  the  sight  of  the 
masts,  and  I  knew  the  end  was  at  hand.  The 
carriage  stopped.  The  driver  stood  at  the  open  door 
with  just  that  dreaded  expression  of  regret  on  his 
face.  Then  came  the  very  words  :  '  We  are  just  too 
late,  miss.  I  am  sorry,  but  I  done  my  best.'  Even  the 
bad  grammar  was  what  I  had  anticipated.  But  as  I 
leaped  out  I  heard  the  bell  ringing.  There  might  be 
a  chance  yet.  I  rushed  inside  the  door,  felt  your  hand 
33 


250  An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage, 

upon  my  arm,  saw  your  eyes  look  into  mine,  and  all 
my  misery  was  turned  into  joy." 

If  ever  a  man  was  made  that  could  listen  unmoved 
to  such  a  story  from  a  woman's  lips  it  was  not  I.  Yet 
I  managed  to  say  as  she  concluded  : 

^'  But  I  would  not  have  missed  seeing  you  again." 

"  You  didn't  know  which  was  my  room,  or  where  I 
worked,  or  even  my  last  name,"  she  said.  ^'  But  I 
must  tell  you  my  name  now.     It  is  Ruth  Gordon." 

"But  I  would  have  moved  heaven  and  earth  to  have 
found  you." 

"  Would  you  ? "  she  asked,  loooking  in  beautiful 
surprise  at  me.  ''You  forget  I  was  almost  a  stranger 
to  you.  All  that  you  knew  about  me  was  that  you  had 
befriended  me.  But  there  are  a  hundred  thousand  in 
New  York  as  poor  as  I  —  why  is  the  steamer  stop- 
ping?" 

"  This  is  the  iron  pier,"  I  said,  in  a  more  practical 
tone  of  voice.  "  We  are  at  Coney  Island." 

As  we  made  our  way  from  the  boat  I  said  to  her : 
"Kow  I  want  to  make  this  the  happiest  day  of  your 
life.     Shall  we  begin  by  taking  a  sea  bath  ? " 

"  ITothing  would  please  me  more,"  she  answered  in 
a  voice  that  was  full  of  a  new  excitement,  and  within 
a  very  few  minutes  we  were  clad  in  the  ungraceful 
costumes  of  the  country,  and  I  was  teaching  her  how 
to  make  the  most  of  that  mighty  pla^^mate,  the  At- 
lantic. At  first  the  scantiness  of  our  dresses  seemed 
to  fill  ber  with  overpowering  shame.  Her  eyes  were 
downcast,  her  cheeks  aflame,  and  she  seemed  anxious 
to  release  her  hand  from  mine  as  we  walked  out  to 
meet  the  breakers. 

"  Oh,  let  me  go  back,"  she  murmured.  "  I  shall  be 
ashamed  all  day  to  look  you  in  the  face." 

• "  Why,  onl}^  look  at  all  these  other  bathers,"  I  said. 
"  They  none  of  them  are  abashed.  You  will  forget  it 
all  when  the  first  big  wave  strikes  you." 

And  so  she  did.     She  became  as  wild  with  deli£:ht 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  251 

'  'S  ™".Tw.  left  in  tta  ««-  0"  ~olleM»n.  ot 

but  to-day  they  all  pleased  B.e  ^^^^^^X^^^^^      To 
flPtPfl  as  the  ffuide  and  cicerone  of  Kutti  (joraon.      xo 

„.,     11  »m  a  mJ  food  .jmfo.ium;  aiimraio  <tu<lj. 

|^7^s:?;£i^^et-=?=S 

^=-:^d£^isS=SS^r^^ 

^^■?^y^3teTel'',^%aid  as   she  tasted   the 

wine,  "that  there  is  nothing  so  rare  or  delicate  but 

you  would  offer  it  to  me  to-day. 

«  There  is  no  woman  on  the  earth,    iiepueu,  ueuu 
ing  toward  he.°"  with  whom  I  would  be  so  happy  to 


dine." 


252  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

"  Keally  ?  "  she  asked,  curiously.  But  she  did  not 
redden  in  self-consciousness  as  I  had  .expected.  As 
she  continued,  I  understood  how  her  modesty  shut  her 
in  from  my  compliments  as  with  a  veil. 

"  How  chivalrous  you  are.  Do  you  know,"  she  said 
in  that  peculiarly  low,  thrilling  tone  of  hers,  "  that  I 
have  wondered  many  times  since  I  first  met  you  yes- 
terday —  it  seems  ages  ago  —  how  I  dared  to  accept 
such  kindness  from  you  %  But  now  that  I  know  you 
I  do  not  wonder  any  longer.  There  was,  I  think, 
some  unknown  finer  sense  in  me  w^hich  recognized 
how  noble  and  magnanimons  your  nature  is." 

"  You  make  me  ashamed,"  I  said.  "If  there  is  any- 
thing fine  in  my  behavior  to  you,  it  is  because  it  is  im- 
possible for  me  to  be  with  you  and  show  poor  or  cheap 
traits.     A  man  is  w^iat  a  woman  inspires  him  to  be.'' 

"  I  am  glad  I  came,"  she  said,  simpl}^  I,  too,'  was 
glad  that  she  came,  intensely  glad.  As  I  sat  there  at 
the  table  with  this  woman  whom  yesterday  at  this 
hour  I  had  not  yet  met,  I  felt  I  was  tasting  perfect 
happiness  at  last.  It  seemed  to  me  I  would  ask  noth- 
ing better  if  I  could  but  have  hoped  to  sit  with  her 
before  me  listening  to  her  sweet  voice,  drinking  in 
the  light  from  her  dark  eyes,  forever,  if  the  sun  would 
but  stand  still  and  time  and  change  be  suspended. 
Even  when  she  was  silent  I  seemed  to  commune  with 
her.  It  was  as  if  our  spirits  had  recognized  each  other 
and  kept  whispering  their  mutual  secrets,  and  answer- 
ing confidence  with  confidence. 

But  the  tables  came  into  great  demand  as  the  after- 
noon boats  brought  new  arrivals  from  the  metropolis, 
and  I  said  at  last : 

"  We  must  make  place  for  other  hungry  people."  I 
offered  her  my  arm  and  for  a  little  while  w^e  walked 
up  and  down  the  broad  piazzas.  To  entertain  her  I 
directed  her  attention  to  the  men  and  women  at  the 
tables,  or  sitting  by  the  railings  listening  to  the  con- 
cert, and  to  still  others  walking  as  we  were,  or  occupy- 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  253 

ing  tlie  seats  below.  I  tried  to  show  her  how  they 
bore  the  marks  of  their  characters  upon  their  faces,  how 
their  history  was  much  of  it  written  in  their  features, 
history  for  the  most  part  of  perverted  natures,  of  dis- 
torted tastes  and  of  disappointed  hopes. 

"  You  do  not  think  very  highly  of  human  nature," 
she  said,  looking  reproachfully  at  me. 

'-  Ah,  yes,  I  do  think  very  highly  of  it,  but  human 
nature  has  small  chance  to  show  its  glorious  attributes 
in  modern  civilized  society,  it  is  our  lower  capacities 
which  are  stimulated  into  excessive  activity  by  the  de- 
mands upon  them.  Our  higher  faculties,  our  fraternal 
sentiments,  our  power  to  love  and  all  implied  in  that 
power,  are  left  nearly  dormant." 

*'  What  a  pity  that  society  cannot  be  changed,  then ! 
Do  you  think  that  men  and  women  would  grow  to  be 
better  and  nobler  if  different  influences  were  placed 
about  them  ? " 

''  Why  not  ?  It  is  debasing  influences  and  tempta- 
tions to  do  evil  which  make  men  and  women  low  and 
bad.  Is  it  not  plain  that  if  these  influences  were  for 
unselfishness  ;  if  the  temptations  to  overreach  our  fel- 
lows, to  anticipate  them  in  greediness,  were  removed, 
that  we  should  grow  to  be  better  ?  We  are  not  bad 
because  we  want  to  be,  but  because  we  have  to  be  so 
or  go  to  the  wall." 

She  sighed  deeply.  "  It  is  because  there  is  not 
enough  for  all,  I  suppose,  and  that  only  by  being 
craftier  than  others,  can  one  win  what  he  wants." 

I  had  made  a  sudden  resolution. 

"  Let  us  draw  some  chairs  back  into  a  retired  little 
nook.  There  we  can  talk  and  listen  to  the  music  at 
the  same  time." 

''  That  will  be  delightful,"  she  answered,  both  with 
her  voice  and  with  her  eyes. 

We  found  just  the  corner  which  I  wanted  where  we 
could  talk  without  likelihood  of  being  overheard,  and 
I  began  my  story  by  asking  a  question. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

"  You  seem  to  be  a  womau  without  curiosity,"  I 
said.  ^^  Don't  you  care  to  know  where  I  live,  or  any 
thing  about  me  more  than  the  fact  that  I  have  written 
a  poor  novel  or  two  ?  " 

"  It  is  only  your  present  in  which  I  have  any  con- 
cern," she  said.  "  Your  past  and  your  future  are 
equally  out  of  my  world." 

Another  of  those  waves  of  emotion  which  this  girl 
had  power  to  stir  swept  through  me. 

"You  do  not  know  what  you  are  saying,"  I  cried, 
breathlessly.  "  Do  you  think  1  shall  let  this  day  be 
our  last  together  ?  " 

She  grew  pale  and  her  breast  heaved  magnihcentlyo 

"  Don't  talk  in  that  way,"  she  murmured,  "  it  is 
cruelty." 

Did  her  heart-beats  hurt  her,  too  ?  Did  she  fear  me 
and  my  influence  over  her,  or  did  love  seem  to  her 
maiden  soul  a  terrible  power  whose  masterly  spirit  she 
dreaded  with  vague  alarms  ?  I  tried  to  put  a  curb 
upon  my  emotions  and  to  speak  in  the  proper  tone  of 
a  dispassionate  historian,  if  there  is  such  a  thing. 

''  But  this  is  a  part  of  my  past,  wdiich  will,  I  am 
sure,  interest  you.  For  two  years  I  have  been  in  the 
far  West,  a  member  of  a  community  founded  on  the 
brotherhood  of  man.  There  no  man  spends  his 
strength  in  efforts  to  deprive  his  fellow  of  the  good 
things  of  life.  All  work  for  a  common  end,  the  wel- 
fare and  comfort  of  all.  There  are  no  rich  men  there, 
and  no  poor  men  or  women.  All  alike  work,  all  alike 
enjoy.      The  hate  and  ill-will  which  have  been  per- 


An  Expe7'iment  in  Marriage,  255 

verting  and  distorting  human  nature  for  so  many  cen- 
turies have  nothing  there  to  feed  upon.  Envy,  selfisli- 
ness,  covetousness,  meanness,  and  all  the  soul-destroy- 
ing influences  they  breed  have  no  scope  in  that  society. 
It  is  a  noble  thing  that  the  people  of  that  valley  are 
assured  all  the  comforts  of  life  and  the  leisure  for  en- 
joyment. But  these  luxuries,  I  and  tens  of  thousands 
of  favored  men  and  women,  have  enjoyed  before.  The 
most  glorious  achievement  of  this  society  is  that  hnman 
character  is  at  last  given  field  to  fulfill  its  capacity  for 
good ;  men  are  permitted  to  look  upon  each  other  as 
friends ;  upon  loving  kindness  as  a  disposition  which 
they  are  no  longer  forbidden  by  the  law^s  of  self -protec- 
tion to  cherish." 

Her  eyes,  big  with  wonder,  w^ere  fixed  upon  me  as 
she  exclaimed : 

"  Are  you  dreaming  aloud?  Surely  there  can  be  no 
such  place  in  this  world  as  you  describe  ? " 

^'  Why  not  ? "  I  asked.  "  Man  is  not  selfish  because 
he  likes  to  be,  mean  because  it  is  a  pleasure  to  him  to 
be  mean,  cruel  because  he  delights  in  crudity.  To  make 
his  way  in  this  state  of  society  he  must  be  so.  To  draw 
his  income,  if  he  be  rich,  he  must  cause  the  sick  and 
the  weary  to  toil  for  him,  the  poor  to  go  hungry,  chil- 
dren to  lack  the  pleasures  even  the  wild  beasts  give 
their  young.  To  earn  his  bread,  if  he  be  poor,  he  must 
show  scant  pity  to  those  as  needy  as  he,  fight  like  a 
wolf  and  trample  on  other  hungry  men  to  keep  his 
poor  place  in  the  industiial  ranks  ;  his  heart  consumed 
all  the  while  with  bitterness  at  his  lot,  his  soul  burn- 
ing with  hate  for  those  who  profit  by  his  ill-paid  labor, 
with  envy  of  the  happy  and  of  the  prosperous  who  have 
their  paths  made  easy  and  their  burdens  light  w^hile  he 
toils  early  and  late  and  feels  himself  unable  to  bring  a 
smile  to  his  wife's  wan  cheeks  or  a  laugh  to  his  chil- 
dren's eyes.  In  this  place  I  speak  of,  however,  the  evil 
passions,  which  have  killed  ont  the  manifestations  of 
brotherly  love  for  so  many  centuries,  have  gone  so  far 


256  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

toward  stifling  even  the  wish  to  be  unselfisli  and  toward 
throttling  generous  impulses  at  their  birth,  are  no  longer 
engendered.  Even  the  seeds  of  them  will  soon  die  out 
in  the  human  heart.  Henceforth  men  can  be  all  the 
immortal  longings  of  the  soul  have  drawn  them  to  be." 

She  did  not  speak,  but  her  glowing  eyes  urged  me  to 
continue : 

"  In  that  valley  the  subjection  of  women,  too,  is  for- 
ever past.  She  works  as  does  the  man,  and  shares  alike 
with  him.  If  she  chooses  to  marry  it  is  not  for  support, 
since  she  continues  after  marriage  to  earn  her  livelihood, 
nor  is  it  for  a  home  and  companionship  simply,  since 
each  person  there  is  assured  a  home  where  all  the 
society  which  could  be  desired  is  offered.  If  she  mar- 
ries, she  marries  for  love,  or  what  she  thinks  is  love, 
and  if  she  finds  she  has  made  a  mistake,  her  bonds,  for 
such  they  must  have  become,  are  dissolved  at  will. 
Her  life  is  not  wrecked  because  of  mistaken  judgment. 
The  ideal  in  that  valley,  between  men  is  fraternity, 
between  each  man  and  some  woman,  perfect  love.  If 
a  man  really  loves  a  woman  she  must  love  him  as  much. 
-Their  souls  and  minds  cry  out  for  each  other  as  do  their 
lips.  If  that  love  ceases  to  bind  them  together  the  true 
marriage  is  in  fact  dissolved.  In  this  valley  the  law 
merely  records  that  fact.  To  deprive  them  of  the  enjoy- 
ment of  true  love,  and  its  ennobling,  inspiring  influences, 
would  be  to  do  them  intolerable  injustice.  If  men  and 
women  were  all-wise  and  incapable  of  making  mistakes, 
the  first  marriage  would  be  the  best  marriage.  But  since 
mistakes  are  more  frequent  than  ideal  selections,  the 
laws  of  that  valley  permit  frequent  divorces  and  re- 
marriages. Women  there  are  growing  into  a  life  their 
sex  never  conceived  of  before.  The  burdens  which  for 
so  many  centuries  have  rested  upon  them  have  been 
lifted.  Tliey  are  wives,  but  only  when  they  love  and 
are  beloved  as  they  desire.  They  are  mothers,  but  the 
care,  nurture  and  education  of  their  children  are  taken 
from  their  shoulders,  while  their  joy  in  their  little  ones 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  257 

is  not  at  all  abated.  So  tlieir  progress  and  develop- 
ment is  not  arrested  with  tlie  advent  of  the  first  infant ; 
a  book  whose  first  pages  only  have  been  turned.  They 
have  homes,  but  not  confinement  at  liard  labor.  Their 
life  is  as  free  of  care  as  a  man's,  as  open  to  influences 
for  culture,  for  education,  for  that  development  which 
we  live  for,  and  which  we  must  have  ourselves  before 
we  can  hand  them  down  to  our  children." 

I  waited  an  instant  to  hear  what  she  should  say,  but 
as  she  did  not  speak,  I  said : 

"  I  will  take  you  there  if  you  desii'e  it." 

For  a  moment  she  seemed  as  if  she  could  not  believe 
her  ears,  then  her  eyes  melted  in  gratitude.  She 
opened  her  lips  to  speak,  but  it  was  a  moment  before 
she  whispered : 

*'  What  miracle  is  this  ?  " 

For  the  last  hour  before  our  boat  sailed  for  New 
York,  we  walked  along  the  beach,  as  happy  creatures 
as  the  moon  shone  upon  that  night.  I  answered  her 
hundred  eager  questions,  which  were  like  those  of  a 
child  on  the  eve  of  a  dehghtful  journey.  I  told  her  all 
about  myself,  too,  and  my  relations  with  the  women  of 
Grape  Valley.  I  had  expected  some  signs  of  irritation, 
I  had  thought  to  see  an  expression  of  displeasure  cross 
her  face.  But  so  poor  and  cheap  an  emotion  as  that  of 
jealousy  was  not  possible  to  this  woman. 

"  And  your  love  story,"  I  said,  at  last,  as,  our  return 
journey  over,  we  stood  on  the  steps  of  the  hallway  of 
the  block  somewhere  on  whose  upper  floors  was  her 
room.     *'  You  have  not  told  me  of  your  lover." 

"  I  have  had  no  love  story,"  she  answered,  slowly. 
"  I  do  not  know  what  it  is  to  love." 

Passionate  words  started  to  my  lips,  but  I  still  held 
them  back. 

"  Now  you  are  sure  you  imderstand,"  I  said.  "  This 

is  your  last  night  here.    To-morrow  morning  I  will  call 

early,  and  we  will  breakfast  together.     Then  I  will 

take  you  to  some  quiet  boarding-house,  and  bring  a 

33 


258  An  Experiment  m  Marriage. 

friend  to  see  yon.  Then  wo  will  arrange  our  plans 
for  taking  yon  to  Grape  Valley." 

"  How  good  yon  are,"  she  said,  dreamily.  "What 
desert  is  there  in  me  for  such  an  interference  of  destiny 
in  my  behalf  ?  What  good  have  I  done  or  thought 
that  I  should  be  singled  out  of  the  ranks  of  the  un- 
happy women  of  New  York  for  translation  to  Ely- 
sium ? "  Then  she  seemed  to  recover  her  grasp  of  the 
practical  present.  "  But  I  must  go  to  my  room.  It 
is  long  past  midnight."     And  she  held  out  her  hand. 

"  I  cannot  bear  that  you  should  stay  here  even  to- 
night. It  is  such  a  horrible  place,"  I  exclaimed,  with- 
out releasing  her  hand. 

'^  Oh,"  and  her  smile  was  more  sweet  and  gentle 
than  ever,  I  thought,  "  but  you  say  it  is  only  for  one 
night.  Besides  it  will  be  so  wonderful  to  go  into  my 
room  again  and  compare  my  happiness,  oh  my  rapture, 
why  was  such  joy  ever  given  to  me  ?  —  with  the  misery, 
the  despair,  which  1  expected  would  await  me  at  my 
door  when  I  returned." 

"  Just  think,"  she  continued,  letting  her  hand  stay 
in  mine,  "  I  shall  grope  through  the  room  to  find  the 
mantel  piece,  and  the  poor  little  bonbon  box  which 
did  duty  as  a  match  safe.  Then  I  shall  strike  a  match 
and  crossing  to  the  table  light  my  old  lamp.  Do  you 
know  the  shade  of  that  lamp  always  seemed  nearly 
human  to  me.  When  I  used  to  sit  in  my  chair  by  it 
and  work  late  at  night  repairing  my  old  dresses,  I  used 
to  think  it  watched  me  with  solemn  sympathy.  When 
I  cried  I  used  to  feel  as  if  it  looked  a  shade  more  mel- 
ancholy than  before.  There  I  have  made  a  pun.  You 
can  see  how  much  in  need  of  rest  I  must  be.  Keally 
you  must  let  me  go,"  and  she  looked  significantly  at 
my  hand  as  it  im^^risoned  hers. 

"  But  you  were  going  to  tell  me  how  different  your 
feelings  would  be  from  those  you  had  dreaded,"  I  in- 
sisted, wondering  whether  I  was  going  to  be  able,  after 
all,   to  keep   back  my  declaration  of  love  until  to- 


An  ExperiTnent  in  Marriage,  259 

morrow  as  I  had  intended,  she  was  so  bewildering 
to-night. 

"  Haven't  I  told  you  before  ?  Well,  there  on  the 
floor  beside  my  chair,  I  shall  find  ni}^  old  dress  just 
where  I  threw  it  half  mended  when  I  decided  to  come 
to  you.  Ah,  just  there,  as  I  touched  it  the  waves  of 
desolation  would  have  swept  over  my  soul.  As  I  must 
put  on  that  old  dress  to-morrow,  so,  I  would  have  re- 
membered, I  must  put  on  my  old  life.  As  I  must  lay 
off  the  dress  I  have  worn  to-day  so  I  must  put  away  all 
the  joy  from  my  life.  Then  I  would  have  heard 
the  terrible  tick  of  the  clock  sounding  e-harp  and  clear, 
as  it  always  does  when  I  feel  most  desperate,  and  I 
would  have  straightway  invented  some  gloomy  sentence 
and  imagined  that  it  was  what  the  pendulum  was  ar- 
ticulating. Perhaps  the  sentence  would  be:  Why — did — 
you — go?  Why — did — you — go?  in  dreadful  rythm. 
Then  I  would  take  one  more  look  at  the  bare  walls  and 
a  deadly  sense  of  suffocation  would  come  upon  me.  I 
would  have  rushed  to  the  bed,  and  bur^dng  my  face  in 
the  poor  little  pillows,  sobbed  and  wept  and  longed  for 
death." 

"Oh,  I  cannot  endure  it,"  I  cried,  coming  closer  to  her. 

'*  But  to-night  I  will  langh  that  you  have  cheated 
giant  despair  of  his  prey,  my  noble  knight,  san%  ])exLr 
et  sans  rep'ocKe.  Please  let  me  go  —  you  really  must 
let  me  go." 

"  Come  into  the  street  first,  and  show  me  where 
your  room  is,' '  I  said,  drawing  her  with  me  down  the 
steps,  "  I  must  know  where  to  come  for  you  in  the 
morning,  you  remember." 

"Why,  to  be  sure,"  she  answered  lightly.  "How 
stupid  of  me."  Then  pointing  above  the  hall  entrance 
she  said  :  "  Look  up  to  the  third  story.  The  window 
next  to  the  left  opens  into  my  room.  When  you  come 
foi*  me  you  will  only  have  to  climb  two  flights  of 
stairs,  and  make  ready  to  climb  the  third  flight  but 
stop  right  there.     Turn  around,  and  knock  at  the  door 


260  An  Experiment  in  Marriage^ 

which  will  stare  you  in  the  face.  As  it  opens  to  your 
knock  you  will  see  me  ready  and  waiting,  and  oh,  so 
happy."  Then  with  a  quick  movement  she  released 
her  hand  and  ran  up  the  steps. 

"Good  night,"  she  cried,  as  she  passed  into  the  dimly- 
lighted  hall  and  up  the  stairs. 

I  was  sorry  I  had  let  her  go.  Why  should  I  have 
permitted  this  woman  who  had  suddenly  filled  out  the 
measure  of  my  whole  life  to  stay  in  this  repulsive 
place  even  for  one  more  night  ?  Who  could  tell  what 
dangers  might  lurk  here  %  This  very  night  fire  might 
break  out  in  the  pawnbroker's  shop  beneath  and  Ruth, 
my  sweetheart  without  knowing  it,  yield  up  her  life 
in  agony.  My  plan  had  been  to  take  her  on  the  mor- 
row to  some  private  boarding-house  and  let  that  be  her 
home  while  she  stayed  in  New  York.  If  she  promised 
to  marry  me,  she  would,  of  course,  want  time  to  make 
preparations.  That  is  one  of  the  dearest  privileges  of  her 
sex.  I  reproached  myself  now  for  not  taking  an  earlier 
boat  home  which  would  have  given  me  time  to  have 
found  a  more  suitable  place  for  her  to  sleep  to-night. 
Then  I  blamed  myself  for  not  having  taken  her  to  a 
hotel  when  we  returned ;  late  as  it  was  I  should  have 
sacrificed  the  proprieties  rather  than  have  taken  the 
risk  of  sacrificing  her  on  the  altar  of  my  own  f  ussiness. 

Then  I  stepped  well  into  the  street  so  that  I  could 
see  her  window.  Ah,  it  was  the  one-half  way  to  the 
roof.  She  was  doubtless  at  this  moment  climbing  the 
second  flight  of  stairs.  In  a  minute  more  she  would 
enter  her  room,  find  the  match  on  the  mantel  and 
light  her  lamp.  Perhaps  it  would  then  occur  to  her 
that  I  might  still  be  watching  below  and  she  would 
step  to  the  open  window  for  a  last  glance  or  wave  of 
the  hand.  Women  seldom  forget  these  sweet  little 
bits  of  sentiment. 

But  what  should  I  do  to  protect  her  to-night?  I 
might,  to  be  sure,  go  up  to  the  stairs  opposite  her  door 
and  sit  there  through  the  long  hours  on  guard.     But 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  261 

that  would  give  her  too  good  an  opportunity  to  laugh 
at  me  in  the  morning  when  the  danger  was  past,  and 
the  sunlight  seemed  to  laugh  too  at  the  terrors  of  the 
night  before.  It  would  provide  her  with  a  convenient 
method  of  pointing  her  jokes  at  my  expense  all  the  rest 
of  our  lives,  if  she  married  me.  But  would  she  marry 
me  after  all  ?  One  can  never  be  sure  of  a  woman. 
Gratitude  and  love  are  very  different  things,  and  the 
love  I  wanted  from  her  was  the  grandest  grade  of  the 
grand  passion.  I  must  not  be  too  hasty  with  my 
wooing.  Women  are  always  displeased  at  being  thought 
too  easily  won.  I  was  convinced  that  she  had  not  yet 
thought  of  me  as  a  lover.  She  regarded  me  as  a  friend, 
as  a  benefactor,  almost  as  a  worker  of  miracles.  It 
would  really  be  more  magnanimous  of  me,  under  the 
circumstances,  if  I  carefully  abstained  from'  breathing 
a  syllable  of  love  until  we  were  both  in  Grape  Valley. 
It  might  seem  to  her  as  if  I  was,  in  a  way,  making 
conditions  for  rescuing  her  from  her  life  of  misery  and 
unhappiness.     But  what  lover  is  magnanimous? 

Ah,  there  was  a  gleam  of  light  in  her  bedroom.  She 
had  struck  a  match.  I  wondered  if  she  were  as  happy 
as  she  thought  she  would  be.  Was  she  thinking  of  me 
or  was  she  thinking  of  Coney  Island ;  or  more  likely 
still,  of  the  tempting  picture  I  had  drawn  for  her  of 
Grape  Yalley  ?  Perhaps,  as  she  crossed  the  room,  she 
was  wondering  why  I  had  seemed  so  fond  of  holding 
her  hand.  Women  in  their  solitude  recall  our  behavior, 
of  which  they  seemed  quite  oblivious  when  with  us, 
and  show  wonderful  analytical  powers  in  dealing  with  it. 

J^ow  the  room  became  somewhat  lighter.  She  had 
touched  the  match  to  the  wick.  ^N'ow  it  was  brighter 
still ;  she  must  have  placed  the  chimney  on  the  lamp. 
In  an  instant  more  she  would  be  at  the  window  if  she 
remembered  me.  There  she  is.  Would  it  be  indiscreet 
of  me  to  call  to  her  ? 

Then  came  a  muffled  scream  and  she  suddenly  dis. 
appeared  from  the  winaow.    -►. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

For  an  instant  I  seemed  incapable  of  moving,  even 
of  thonght.  Then  tliere  came  a  flash  of  memory.  The 
smell  of  the  salt  air  was  in  my  nostrils  again.  I  was 
sitting  with  Kuth  by  the  rail  of  the  boat,  while  she 
told  me  of  her  sudden  decision  to  come.  One  sentence 
of  them  all  sounded  with  new  significance  in  my  ears. 
'  Without  stopping  to  lock  my  door  I  rushed  down  the 
stairs.'  During  her  absence  some  creature  had  en- 
tered her  room,  and  for  hours  had  crouched  there  in 
the  darkness  for  his  victim.  While  we  had  exchanged 
gentle  words  and  gentler  wishes,  he  had  plotted  his 
treachery  and  violence.  Then  a  consuming  heat  filled 
my  breast.  My  heart  was  bursting  with  rage  for  her 
assailant  were  he  man  or  l)east,  or  both  in  one.  I  longed 
to  be  at  his  throat,  to  tear  liis  life  out  for  causing  the 
girl  I  loved  so  much  as  one  first  faint  qualm  of  terror. 
My  stunned  will  had  recovered  its  power,  and  driven 
by  an  instinct  as  strong  as  that  of  a  tigress  springing 
to  the  defense  of  her  young,  I  leaped  into  the  doorway 
and  up  the  stairs.  I  caught  the  bannisters  to  aid  me 
and  took  four  steps  at  a  time. 

For  guide  to  Ruth's  room  I  had  only  the  directions 
she  had  given  me  a  few  moments  before.  Little  she 
knew  how  speedily  T  should  use  them.  JSTow  I  stood 
facing  the  door  of  her  i-oom  as  it  stood  just  ajar.  She 
had  doubtless  waited  before  she  should  shut  it  until 
her  lamp  was  lighted.  Within  all  was  silent,  horribly 
silent.  My  heart  almost  stopped  beating  as  I  pushed 
the  door  open,  and  saw  a  man  and  a  woman  engaged 
in  a  deadly  struggle.     The  man  was  slight  of  figure, 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  263 

and  bore  tlie  marks  of  dissipation  upon  his  face.  Tlie 
woman  —  my  own  Ruth  —  was  very  pale,  and  her 
features  were  set,  as  if  in  rigor  mortis,  as  she  knelt 
upon  the  chest  of  the  writhing  creature.  His  arms  she 
held  flat  upon  the  floor  upon  either  side.  She  must 
have  thrown  him.  down  in  her  first  spring,  and  now, 
with  straining  muscles  and  tense  nerves,  she  was  striv- 
ing to  hold  him  there.  It  was  her  only  hope.  The 
marks  of  his  fingers  were  yet  upon  her  throat,  and  her 
dress  was  torn  open  at  the  neck,  revealing  beauties 
which  she  would  rather  have  died  than  that  this  wretch 
should  see.  How  villainous  was  his  white,  sneering 
face,  how  devilish  the  smile  of  expected  triumph  which 
yet  lingered  about  his  lips.  Well  he  knew  her  strength 
would  soon  fail  her. 

l^either  of  them  had  noticed  iny  entrance,  so  absorbed 
were  they  in  their  terrific  struggle.  But  before  I 
corad  decide  how  to  act,  alternate  waves  of  fury  for 
this  man,  and  of  admiration  for  the  w^oman,  passing 
over  me,  her  strength  began  to  fail.  His  arms  drew 
up  in  spite  of  her  agonizing  attempt  to  hold  them. 
With  a  pitiful  cry  she  sprang  to  her  feet,  for  the  last 
and  hopeless  struggle,  and  he  faced  her  with  a  new 
flush  of  hateful  delight  upon  his  cheeks. 

My  tiaie  had  come,  and  I  leaped  upon  him  like  the 
tigress,  whose  ferocity  would  be  gentleness  compared 
with  miiie,  and  catching  him  by  the  throat  strangled 
him  ahnost  into  unconsciousness.  He  must  have 
thought  it  was  Nemesis  who  had  flown  in  at  the  win- 
dow. He  was  like  a  child  in  my  grasp  as  I  forced  him 
to  the  door  of  the  room  which  he  had  profaned,  and 
to  the  stairway.  Then  lifting  him  over  the  railing  I 
dropped  his  vile  form  far  down  below,  as  I  hoped,  to  his 
death.  I  hardly  waited  to  hear  the  crash  before  I  re- 
turned to  the  chamber  of  my  beloved.  The  room 
seemed  strangely  familiar  to  me,  until  I  remembered 
it  was  from  her  description  I  had  been  able  to  jDicture 
it.     The  solemn-faced  clock  was  an  old  acquaintance, 


264  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

the  round  table,  with  ink-stained  cloth,  the  lamp  with 
its  companionable  shade,  even  her  working  dress  as  it 
lay  on  the  floor  where  she  had  dropped  it  in  her  haste, 
all  attracted  me  with  a  pathetic  sense  of  recognition. 
But  oh,  the  bareness  of  the  walls,  and  of  the  floor,  the 
scantiness  of  the  furniture  I  Poverty,  lonehness,  misery, 
were  written  everywhere.  From  all  these  I  could  save 
this  girl,  but  who  would  save  the  millions  of  others 
as  unhappy,  as  innocently  ground  beneath  the  pitiless 
heel  of  a  fatal  industrial  system?  How  could  men  of 
heart  and  soul  sleep  by  night,  or  be  at  peace  by  day, 
while  there  was  one  human  being  whose  hourly  cup 
of  bitterness  is  such  as  millions  drain  in  our  Christian 
civilization  % 

Euth  sat  in  a  semi-faint  upon  her  bed.  It  was  clear 
I  had  not  come  a  moment  too  soon,  but  I  do  not 
think  she  yet  knew  what  had  saved  her.  She  bad 
drawn  together  her  dress  to  conceal  the  fair  vision  of 
her  bosom,  but  more  in  instinct  than  in  appreciation  of 
my  presence,  I  thought. 

"  Don't  you  know  I  am  here,  dear  Ruth?"  I  said,  seat- 
ing myself  by  her  side,  and  supporting  her  with  my 
arm. 

I  thought  she  tried  to  smile.  "  I  have  come  for  you," 
I  went  on.  "  I  shall  take  you  away  from  this  place 
this  very  night,  if  j^ou  will  go." 

Her  lips  moved  to  form  the  word  "  Yes." 

"  Do  you  know,"  I  said,  *'  what  it  is  that  I  want  you 
to  do,  and  this  very  night  ? " 

She  opened  her  eyes  at  last  and  gazed  at  me  in  won- 
der. How  did  I  come  here,  in  her  chamber?  she 
seemed  to  query  of  herself.  Then  she  must  have  re- 
called her  terrible  struggle  and  her  mysterious  rescue. 
She  closed  her  eyes  again,  and  nestled  toward  me  with 
an  unconscious  movement  which  tilled  me  with  wild 

joy. 

*'  I  am  going  to  take  you  away  with  me  ;  so  we  must 
be  married,  and  this  very  night." 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  265 

The  pallor  had  left  her  cheeks  now.  The  rich 
colors  painted  on  the  woods  in  Autumn  were  dull  to 
the  living  glow  of  her  cheeks.  Her  eyes,  too,  fairly 
blazed  with  a  new  consciousness  and  beauty.  Thea 
she  drew  away,  and  rising,  stood  facing  me. 

"  I  marry  you  ?  "  she  asked,  in  a  voice  I  could  not 
interpret. 

"  Not  if  you  do  not  love  me,"  I  answered  in  sudden 
wretchedness.  "  But  you  must  let  me  ask  you  again, 
many  months  from  now,  when  you  know  me  better." 
I  rose  to  plead  with  her  more  persuasively.  A  strange 
look  was  in  her  eyes  as  she  listened. 

She  said  at  last :  "  I  dared  not  dream  that  you  loved 
me.  To  be  offered  life  instead  of  a  living  death ;  to 
be  given  hope,  instead  of  despair ;  to  be  assured  that  I 
should  be  an  honorable  and  useful  woman,  and  no 
longer  an  enemy  even  of  my  own  toiling  sisterhood, 
competing  with  other  poor  girls  for  bread  ;  these  were 
enough.  Should  I  expect  your  love  too?  Was  there 
no  one  in  the  world  to  be  made  happy  but  me? 
Should  I  greedily  ask  for  all  the  beautiful  things  I 
saw?" 

I  took  her  in  my  arms  in  the  first  wonderful  em- 
brace of  love,  and  as  she  raised  her  lips  to  mine  for 
their  first  kiss,  I  was  filled  with  amazement  that  in  a 
world  so  full  of  misery,  such  ecstasy  as  mine  could  bo 
possible.  Then,  still  in  my  arms,  she  drew  back  her 
head,  and,  leaning  away,  looked  into  my  face  for  a  mo- 
ment as  she  said,  in  a  voice  like  one  just  yielding  to 
the  potency  of  powerful  liquor :  "  And  did  you  think 
I  could  love  you  better  bye  and  bye?  That  would  be 
impossible.  Now^  that  I  have  entertained  for  a  moment 
the  thought  of  being  loved  by  you,  I  love  you  with  my 
whole  soul.     I  think  I  would  die  without  it." 

'^  We  will  start  for  the  happy  valley  to-morrow." 
As  I  spoke  the  clock  struck  two.  "  Not  to-morrow, 
but  tonday." 

"  Where  you  are,  is  my  paradise,"  she  answered. 

34 


266  A7i  £xperi?7ie7it  in  Marriage, 

"  We  must  go  at  once,"  I  said.  And  without  wait- 
ing for  so  much  as  one  parting  look  behind,  she  went 
out  from  her  old  dark  life  forever. 

As  we  went  down  the  stairs  we  saw  that  help  had 
been  attracted  by  the  cries  of  the  degraded  wretch  who 
had  so  nearly  paid  with  his  life  for  his  attempted  vil- 
lainy. Barely  noticing  that  he  was  not  fatally  hurt,  I 
drew  Kuth's  arm  closer  to  mine,  and  we  hurried  out 
into  the  air. 

It  was  a  half  hour  before  we  found  a  carriage,  an 
hour  more  before  we  secured  an  audience  with  the 
minister  we  desired,  and  the  blackness  of  night  was 
giving  slow  place  to  the  gray  of  dawn  when  I  could 
use  to  her  that  tenderest  of  names  :  ''  My  wife." 

"  Shall  we  go  to  the  bridge,"  I  suggested,  "  and  see 
the  sun  rise  ? '' 

The  drays  had  already  commenced  their  slow  proces- 
sion as  we  entered  the  bridge,  but  we  were  the  only 
foot  passengers  in  sight.  The  attendant  policeman,  to 
whom  the  welcome  hour  of  release  was  drawing  near, 
watched  us  somewhat  suspiciously  at  first,  but  when 
lie  perceived  that  we  were  mere  lovers,  he  yawned 
contemptuously  and  gave  his  thoughts  once  more  to  the 
tempting  picture  of  the  soft  bed  and  darkened  chamber 
which  would  soon  be  his  solace. 

"  Let  me  tell  you  just  what  we  shall  do  to-day,"  I 
said  softly,  my  voice  lingering  over  that  delightful 
plural.  "  We  must  breakfast  early,  perhaps  in  Fulton 
market,  that  will  be  convenient.  Then  we  shall  have 
to  take  an  early  morning  drive  through  the  park  to  re- 
fresh us.  It  will  fill  the  place  of  the  night's  rest 
which  we  both  have  missed.  It  will  be  nine  o'clock 
when  we  return,  and  I  must  present  Mr.  Gillette  to 
you.     Then  you  shall  go  shopping  until  noon." 

''  And  you  ?  "  she  murmured,  sweetly. 

"  I  will  finish  the  last  few  pages  of  my  two  years' 
experience  in  Grape  Yalley.  This  I  must  send  to  a 
friend,  a  New  York  editor.     He  is  to  make  a  book  of 


A71  Experiment  m  Marriage,  267 


it.  All  this  must  be  done  before  we  start  for  the 
"West  this  afternoon." 

"  And  shall  you  put  me  in  your  history?" 

*'  I  must,  my  darling.  You  it  is  who  give  com- 
pleteness to  it." 

*'  And  if  you  tell  the  miracle  which  has  befallen  me, 
all  poor  girls,  too,  may  hope.  Oh,  why  cannot  we  come 
back  from  our  happy  valley,  now  and  then,  and  gather 
up  others  whose  lives  are  as  black  as  mine  was,  and 
save  them  for  themselves  and  for  happiness  ?  " 

"We  will,"  I  answered,  as  we  reached  the  highest 
point  of  the  bridge,  and  seated  ourselves  upon  ^le 
same  bench  where  Ward,  Gillette  and  I  h:id  sat  that 
other  night,  almost  two  years  ago. 

TLie  sun  was  just  gilding  the  east  for  his  rising,  and 
with  my  arm  about  my  wife  and  with  her  head  upon 
my  shoulder  I  felt  that  all  the  beauties  of  the  world 
would  henceforth  have  a  new  and  fuller  meaning  for 
me.  The  gold,  the  I'ed  and  the  blue  outvied  each 
other  in  the  marvelous  monocromes  they  painted  on  the 
clouds,  then  blending  all  in  one  perfect  picture,  made 
my  eyes  fairly  tremble  with  the  revelation.  Then  the 
sun  himself  sent  his  first  rays  glancing  over  land  and 
sea  and  there  came  the  answering  gleam  from  the 
white  sails  and  from  the  vanes  and  domes  of  glistening 
gold  and  shining  steel. 

I  looked  at  the  three  mighty  cities  with  their  teem- 
ing millions  of  men,  women  and  children,  mostly  mis- 
erable, although  formed  for  happiness ;  mostly  selfish 
although  inclined  to  fraternity ;  mostly  wicked  although 
yearning  for  the  good.  The  poorer  of  those  millions, 
the  ones  with  their  faces  crushed  nearest  to  the  earth, 
were  already  astir.  Sleep,  the  only  boon  undenied 
them,  has  left  their  eyelids  and  with  sighs,  whose 
united  breath  would  sweep  whole  navies  from  the  sea, 
they  begin  to  drink  their  daily  cup  of  misery.  In  a 
few  hours  more  their  masters,  the  well-to-do  and  the 
rich,  will  come  forth  from  their  white  sheets  to  another 


268  An  Ex'periment  in  Marriage. 

day.  But  it  seemed  to  me  tlie  masters  were  hardly 
more  happy.  "Were  not  both,  indeed,  slaves  together 
to  industrial  and  social  institutions  which  forbid  all  real 
development  and  progress?  The  few  cannot  attain 
progress  unless  the  many  share  in  it.  Happiness  lies 
in  the  fulfillment  of  the  capacities  of  our  nature  for 
good.  Civilization  is  based  on  principles  of  selfishness, 
and  selfishness  begets  all  ignoble  and  degrading  ten- 
dencies. Who,  in  civilization,  unless  he  gives  all  his 
goods  to  the  jDOor  and  his  life  to  the  service  of  others, 
can  be  happy  ?  And  even  if  he  did  that,  the  still  un- 
flagging revolutions  of  the  wheels  of  our  murderous 
system  of  society,  must  tear  the  tendons  of  his  sensitive 
heart.  The  sop  the  philanthropist  throws  to  Cerberus 
is  all  in  vain. 

Could  those  miserable  beings  be  made  happy  ?  Could 
the  people  of  thousands  of  cities  and  towns  besides  be 
led  into  the  higher  possibilities  of  their  moral  and 
spiritual  natures  ?  How  little  a  leaven  indeed  was  that 
community  in  Grape  Yalley  to  effect  this  stupendous 
work.  Yet  we  could  search  out  here  and  there  a  few 
even  now,  and  point  them  to  the  promised  land  which 
sooner  or  later  awaits  all  humanity. 

I  caressed  the  white  hand  that  lay  in  mine  but  there 
was  no  response.  I  pressed  the  yielding  form  closer  to 
me,  but  there  was  no  answering  movement  like  a  re- 
turned caress.  In  sudden  solicitude,  I  bent  forward  to 
look  into  the  face  that  rested  on  my  shoulder. 

Ruth's  eyes  were  closed,  and  the  long  lashes  lay  on 
her  cheeks  in  perfect  lines  of  beauty.  Her  hps, 
slightly  parted,  revealed  the  tips  of  her  white  teeth  and 
her  breath,  sweet  as  mountain  breezes,  came  in  even  and 
regular  respirations. 

My  wife  was  asleep. 

Note  From  Editor. 
The  foregoing  pages,  from  chapter  lY  to  chapter 
XXYIII  inclusive,  were  the  contents  of  the  packet  sent 


An  Ecjperiment  in  Marriage.  269 

me  through  a  district  messenger  by  my  friend  Yinton. 
The  first  \hree  chapters,  it  will  be  remembered,  I  had 
prepared  myself  from  the  story  of  Ward  and  Vinton 
given  me  at  Delmonico's.  I  had  promised  to  make  a 
book  of  the  matter,  and,  it  will  be  seen,  was  doing  my 
best.  The  whole  twenty-eight  chapters  had  been  at  the 
printers  for  six  weeks,  when  Ward  returned  to  town 
and  called  upon  me.  He  was  a  changed  man.  His  old 
cheerfulness  and  ready  good  humor  had  disappeared, 
and  he  brought  gloom  into  my  room  when  he  came. 
He  would  not  talk  about  his  two  years'  experience  nor 
let  me  talk  about  Vinton's  history.  When  I  tried  to 
induce  him  to  help  me  correct  the  proofs  and  decide  on 
a  name  for  the  forthcoming  volume,  he  not  only  flatly 
refused  to  do  so,  but,  apparently  fearing  urgency  on  my 
part,  he  did  not  call  upon  me  again. 

But  it  happened  that  just  as  I  was  reading  the  last 
proofs  of  Vinton's  history,  a  district  messenger  came 
to  my  room  with  a  packet,  similar  in  general  appearance 
to  that  which  Vinton  had  sent  me  a  few  weeks  before, 
but  very  much  smaller.  I  soon  found  it  to  be  manu- 
script, but  as  there  was  no  signature,  and  as  no  letter 
of  explanation  came  with  it,  I  was  forced  to  read  it 
before  1  could  assure  myself  who  was  its  author,  and 
what  was  his  purpose  in  sending  the  sheets  to  me.  It 
was  clearly  from  Ward,  as  the  reader  will  at  once  see, 
and  was  intended  as  a  supplement  to  Vinton's  history, 
at  least  so  I  gathered  from  one  of  the  concluding  para- 
graphs. There  was  no  time  to  lose  if  Ward's  contribu- 
tion was  to  go  into  the  same  volume  as  the  preceding 
chapters,  so  1  sent  it  at  once  to  the  printers,  with  direc- 
tions that  it  was  to  be  added.  It  seems  to  me  to  have 
been  written  in  a  somewhat  injudicious  frame  of  mind, 
but  I  have  not  taken  the  liberty  to  so  much  as  alter  an 
adjective  or  suppress  an  adverb.  The  sort  of  a  book  I 
should  write  is  so  entirely  different  from  this,  that  if  I 
began  to  expunge  and  revise  there  would  not  be  enough 
left  of  the  original  to  hold  the  pages  together.    In  the 


270  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

succeeding  chapter  I  give  it  to  the  reader  as  it  was 
given  to  me. 

I  hav^e  fulfilled  my  responsibilities  to  both  of  my 
friends,  and  I  hope  have  incurred  no  new  ones  so  far 
as  the  world  at  large  is  concerned. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

PART  I. 
It  was  the  week  after  the  retnm  of  Harry  Vinton 
with  his  extremely  attractive  wifo_  that  tlie  two  years 
of  what  might  be  called  my  novitiate  "^  GXttl  S 
expired.  In  spite  of  the  persuasions  of  Gillette,  and 
Notwithstanding  the  argnments  of  Vinton  I  had  an- 
nounced  my  iwevocable  determination  to  leave  the 
valley  and  forever. 

The  last  evening  of  my  stay  ^^d  come.  At  dmner- 
the  dinner  is  always  a  banquet  in  Grape  Valley-i  had 
been  called  up  and  had  made  my  adieux.    Of  course 
that  was  not  the  place  nor  was  then  the  tnne  for  en  i- 
cisms,  if  indeed  I  had  felt  disposed  to  make  them    Bu 
in  fact  my  heart  was   quite  too  much  touched  with 
senthnents  of  good- will  toward  the  kind  friends  I  was 
o  leave  on  the  morrow.     I  felt,  as  I  rose  from  my 
chair  to  address  them,  as  if  it  were  a  big  family  of 
brothers  and  sisters  which  I  was  about  to  leave.     iJie 
social  intercourse  of  Grape  Valley  was  so  ^".ch  n^o  ^ 
free  and  complete  than  I  had   thought   possible  tlie 
cultivation  of  the  genial  instincts  and  of  the  fraternal 
spirit  was  so  remarkable  here,  owing  I  suppose,  tot  le 
absence  of  conflicting  interests  and  of  theeyil  passions 
bred  of  them,  that  I  felt  myself  upon  intimate  and 
tender  relations  with  almost  every  one  at  the  table. 

I  much  fear  my  farewell  address  was  not  a  success  as 
a  forensic  effort.  My  impression  is  that  I  repeated  a 
great  many  of  my  sentences  a  quite  unnecessary  num- 
ber of  times,  and  that  there  were  fr«l"f"t  >°t«'^f  ^' 
when   my  voice  became  nearly  mandible  from  my 


272  An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage. 

emotion.  I  remember,  too,  that  I  could  not  keep  my 
eyes  from  wandering  to  the  place  where  sat  Lydia 
Trenk,  and  that,  when  I  saw  her  ej^es  filled  with  tears 
and  her  lips  quivering,  something  seemed  to  choke  me. 
It  w^as  only  by  a  very  great  effort  of  will  that  I 
recovered  myself  sufficiently  to  make  even  a  poor  show 
of  continuing. 

When  dinner  was  over  I  felt  that  I  could  endure  no 
more  leave-taking.  It  had  taken  me  many  years  to 
attain  the  reputation  of  a  man  of  seK-poise,  and  I 
wanted  to  leave  something  besides  a  maudlin  memory 
behind  me.  I  thought  to  spend  the  evening  in  walk- 
ing about  the  little  city.  The  woman  whose  tearful 
eyes  had  met  mine  at  the  table  least  of  all  could  I 
endure  to  meet  again.  Good-byes  with  women  are 
dangerous  things  at  best,  but  if  one  is  conscious  of 
being  in  love  with  a  woman,  and  at  the  same  time 
thinks  he  is  bound  to  leave  her,  then  a  farewell  scene 
is  worse  than  dangerous.  Although  it  made  my  heart 
ache  to  come  away  without  a  last  touch  of  her  hand, 
and  a  last  whisper  of  that  tender  yet  cruel  word, 
"  good-bye,"  I  was  still  relieved  at  feeling  that  I  had 
escaped  without  meeting  her  face  to  face. 

But  as  I  passed  the  piazza  I  heard  a  voice  calling  me 
in  her  soft,  caressing  tones. 

"  Wait,"  she  said,  rising  from  the  bench,  "  I  have 
been  watching  for  yon."  Then  as  she  came  down  the 
steps  and  laid  her  hand  upon  my  arm,  she  added :  "  You 
see  how  well  I  knew  yon." 

Instead  of  being  displeased,  as  I  should  have  been, 
that  she  had  come,  I  was  unreasonably  happy.  What 
I  had  honestly  tj-ied  to  avoid,  a  last  meeting  with 
Lydia,  had  come  about,  yet  I  was  fully  content.  I 
drew  her  arm  through  mine  and  we  walked  slowly 
down  the  silent  street. 

"  This  will  only  make  us  both  more  miserable  when 
I  am  gone,"  I  said.     But  I  did  not  release  her  arm. 

"  So  you  are  really  going  to-morrow  % " 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  273 

"  Yes,  to-morrow,"  I  answered. 

"  And  never  will  return  ? " 

"  J^ever  will  return,"  I  repeated,  thickly. 

**  Is  there  nothing  I  can  say  or  do  which  would  keep 
you  ?  '- 

"Nothing." 

"  Then,"  she  hesitated,  ^^  then,  if  I  wanted  to  say 
something  which  was  very  unwise,  I  need  not  be  timid 
about  it  ?  You  would  be  in  no  danger  of  staying  to 
make  me  ashamed  of  it  ?  " 

"I  do  not  nnderstand  what  yon  can  mean,"  I  said 
in  painful  excitement,  expecting  I  knew  not  what,  at 
loss  whether  I  hoped  or  feared  it  most. 

'*  I  mean,"  and  she  hung  back  a  httle  on  my  arm, 
"I  mean  if  I  should  want  to  say  something  which 
women  do  not  generally  have  to  say  to  men,  something 
men  usually  say  to  women,  there"  would  be  no  fear 
of  my  seeing  you  to-morrow  and  thinking  you  despised 
me? " 

"  I  shall  never  see  you  after  to-night,  Lydia." 

"  Oh,  you  have  called  me  Lydia  for  the  first  time," 
she  cried.  "  I  have  so  longed  to  hear  you  speak  it.  I 
cannot  .keep  back  my  secret  any  longer  from  you.  I 
have  already  told  it  to  the  moon  and  to  the  stars,  to 
the  river  and  to  the  mountains,  oh,  so  many  times." 

I  conld  not  speak.     I  seemed  suffering  for  breath. 

Then  came  her  voice  again  :  "  I  love  you  so.  Hove 
you  morning,  noon  and  night.  You  are  my  life,  but 
not  my  hope,  my  all,  but  yet  you  leave  me  for- 
ever.' ' 

How  I  wanted  to  take  her  in  my  arms.  I  felt  as  if 
I  would  be  willing  and  glad  to  give  my  life  if  I  could 
but  press  her  to  my  breast  for  one  moment.  I  could 
see,  too,  that  she  perceived  my  emotion,  that  she  felt 
in  some  mysterious  way  how  much  I  longed  for  her. 
Her  eyes  dilated,  her  bosom  rose  and  fell,  her  form 
seemed  leaning  toward  me  in  mute  invitation.  Sud- 
denly I  recovered  myself,  remembering  how  I  had  re 
solved  that  no  temptation  should  ever  cause  me  to  givt 
35 


274  An  Exjperiment  in  Marriage, 

the  first  caress  to  this  woman  who  was  another  man's 
wife. 

^'Lydia,"  I  said,  ^'I  must  not  take  you  to  my  heart, 
though  you  would  not  beheve  me  if  I  told  you  now 
that  I  do  not  love  you.  It  is  because  I  love  you  that 
I  am  going  away  to-morrow,  forever." 

She  gave  me  a  hurt  look  like  that  in  the  eye  of  some 
gentle  and  tormented  creature  of  the  chase.  I  can 
never  forget  it.  It  was  a  minute,  I  think,  before  she 
spoke.  ^'  Is  that  the  way  to  show  your  love  for  me,  to 
break  my  heart  % " 

Then  I  tried  to  lash  myself  into  a  holy  fury.  "Duty 
comes  before  love.  I  must  be  sacrificed  and  you  too, 
if  necessary,  to  the  duty  you  owe  your  husband." 

But  she  then  became  really  angry,  and  more  beautiful 
than  ever.  "  What  duty  can  I  owe  him  except  kind- 
ness and  honesty,  unless  it  be  the  duty  to  leave  him 
when  I  find  I  do  not  love  him  as  he  deserves  to  be 
loved  by  some  one  ?  I  wrong  him  if  I  consent  to  main- 
tain the  hollow  form  of  a  marriage  after  I  have  ceased 
to  love  him,  and  a  hundred  times  more  if  I  have  learned 
that  I  love  another." 

"  But  has  he  no  rights  ? " 

"  Am  I  his  slave,  that  my  body  is  his  when  my  heart 
is  another's  ;  that  I  must  submit  myself  to  caresses 
when  I  do  not  return  tenderness  %  That  would  be 
pollution  indeed." 

"  But  you  should  not  give  your  heart  to  another,"  I 
answered  brutally,  nerving  myself  to  scourge  the 
woman  I  worshipped. 

Her  lips  curved  magnificently.  "  Can  a  man  or  a 
woman  love  by  rule  or  measure?  Can  I  say  to  myself: 
'  You  must  Hke  this  sort  of  mind,  that  sort  of  intellect 
must  please  you;  you  must  be  delighted  with  this 
spiritual  power,  that  type  of  physical  manliness  must 
thrill  you  with  magnetic  force  ? '  Can  I  force  myself 
to  long  to  lay  my  head  on  a  breast  whose  touch  does 
not  warm  me  ?  Can  I  make  my  heart  melt  in  tender- 
ness at  will  for  a  man  because  he  is  my  husband  ? " 


An  Exjyeriment  in  Marriage,  275 

As  I  did  not  reply  at  once  she  continued :  "  Perhaps 
I  never  loved  him.  Perhaps  I  married  before  I  was 
capable  of  knowing  what  love  is.  Perhaps  I  have 
grown  away  from  him.  All  I  know  is  that  I  do  not 
love  him  now,  but  you,  with  my  whole  nature  ;  and  to 
do  what  you  call  my  duty  to  him  would  he  to  desecrate 
me  as  with  a  mortal  sin/to  shame  me  before  my  better 
nature,  to  do  violence  to  my  woman's  purity  and 
honor." 

"  But  do  you  not  consider  that  he  may  yet  love  you,  ■ 
and  his  happiness  depend  on  you  1  " 

''  I  think  my  first  obligation  is  to  my  own  higher 
woinanhood  aiid  sense  of  honor  ;  to  fulfill  my  capacity 
for  that  best  development  of  soul  which  comes  with  per- 
fect love.  But  even  if  it  were  right  for  me  to  think 
first  of  him,  I  am  still  sure  that  I  ought  to  leave  him. 
Love  is  not  simply  desire,  although  the  training  of 
countless  generations  makes  many  of  us  think  so, 
Neither  is  it  admiration,  nor  yet  esteem  ;  brothers  and 
sisters  and  friends  have  these  for  each  other.  Physi- 
cally, it  is  a  magnetic  attraction  between  a  man  and  a 
woman;  mentally,  it  is  responsiveness  and^  mutual 
power  to  excite  and  stimulate  and  refresh  ;  si^iritually, 
it  is  mutual  inspiration  and  inarticulate  sympathy ;  a 
harmony  of  the  inner  and  immortal  natures  beyond  all 
other  joy,  beyond  all  other  education.  Love  is  mutual 
in  its  'every  essence ;  so  when  a  woman  ceases  to  love 
her  husband,  or  finds  she  has  never  loved  him,  her  duty 
to  him,  as  much  as  to  herself,  calls  upon  her  to  leave 
him  free  to  form  a  new  and  perfect  association.  Even 
if  he  does  not  appreciate  the  fatal  lack  of  a  mutual 
love,  it  is  still  her  duty  to  him  to  dissolve  what  has  be- 
come a  false  marriage.  So  she  will  bless  him  in  spite 
of  himself." 

''  I  only  wish  I  could  believe  you." 
She  gave  a  sigh  which  might  have  been  the  flutter- 
ing  of  the  wings  of  hope  as  it  left  her  bosom  forever. 
"  I  see  all  I  have  said  is  in  vain.     Your  mind  is  so 


276  A7i  Exj^eriment  in  Marriage. 

steeped  in  prejudice  it  will  not  believe  your  heart, 
which  I  know  is  pleading  with  me.  I  shall  now  go  to 
in  J  home  never  to  see  you  again.  But  before  we  sepa- 
rate I  must  tell  you  that  long  since  I  have  revealed 
to  my  husband  that  I  love  you,  and  you  only. 
What  he  said  to  me  and  I  to  him ;  how  gently,  how 
sacredly,  he  has  treated  me  since  that  moment,  I  shall 
not  betray.  He  has  the  heart  of  a  true  knight.  The 
only  reason  why  I  did  not  file  my  notice  of  divorce  be- 
fore was  that  I  was  afraid  of  shocking  yon.  But  this 
afternoon  I  made  the  record.  My  husband  that  was 
is  my  husband  no  longer,  even  in  name.  I  return  now 
to  my  home  alone." 

Then  she  walked  rapidly  up  the  street  away  from 
me  and  I  stood  watching  her.  Once  or  twice,  I  thought, 
she  almost  stopped.  Once  I  am  sure  she  partly  turned 
as  if  she  imagined  that  she  heard  my  voice  calling  to 
her.  But  I  neither  called  to  her  nor  followed  her. 
If  her  heart  ached,  did  not  mine  ache  as  much  ?  If 
she  suffered  agony,  did  it  not  seem  as  if  a  ragged 
blade  of  steel  were  piercing  my  bosom  ?  By  sheer 
force  of  will  I  rooted  myself  to  the  spot.  Passion 
bade  me  pursue  her.  Love,  touching  with  immortal 
flame  every  faculty  of  my  soul  and  spirit,  bade  me  call 
after  her.  But  will  held  me  back,  and  only  when  she 
turned  into  her  door  and  became  lost  to  my  view,  did 
I  move,  and  then  it  was  to  walk  back  to  the  phalanstery 
to  occupy  my  room  for  the  last  time. 

Next  morning  I  started  east. 

PART  II. 

I  was  very  unhappy  on  that  journey  to  New  York, 
and  very  ill-tempered.  With  considerable  trouble  I 
had  secured  the  title  deeds  to  a  miserable  remnant  of 
life.  I  had  rejected  the  love  of  the  only  woman 
who  had  ever  stirred  my  heart.  I  had  inflicted  upon 
her  a  sentence  as  severe  as  I  accepted  for  myself.  I 
would  have  preferred  the  joy  of  a  future  with  her 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  277 

to  all  the  other  delights  of  a  life-time.  I  would  have 
thought  I  was  attaining  the  highest  ideal  of  existence 
in  living  in  her  presence  and  expanding  under  her 
brooding  love.  But  I  sacrificed  that  joy,  that  ideal, 
and  so  chose  the  very  refuse  of  life.  I  kept  telling 
myself  that  it  was  duty  which  impelled  me,  a  sense 
of  right  which  enabled  me  to  resist  temptation.  But 
never  did  duty  seem  so  cold  and  unallnring.  Kever 
did  right  seem  so  wholly,  so  eternally  wrong. 

Of  course,  I  was  thoroughly  out  of  temper,  and  dis- 
posed to  see  only  what  encouraged  cynical  reflections, 
but  as  my  observations  had  some  fruit  it  may  be 
well  enough  to  record  a  few  of  them.  In  the  seat 
in  front  of  me,  when  I  took  the  train  from  St.  Louis, 
I  noticed  a  young  man  and  a  young  woman.  He 
was  reading  a  newspaper,  she  examining  her  purse, 
to  make  sure  that  the  checks  and  tickets  were  safe. 
When  she  spoke  he  had  only  curt  replies,  which  he  threw 
at  her  without  deigning  to  raise  his  eyes  from  his 
newspaper.  I  immediately  concluded  they  were  mar- 
ried. She  was  pleasant-looking,  and  of  graceful  figure, 
deferential  and  timid  in  manner,  evidently  anxious  to 
say  what  should  commend  itself  to  her  husband,  but 
nervously  conscious  of  failure.  His  face  bore  an  ill- 
tempered  expression,  his  mouth  showed  impatience,  the 
lines  running  from  the  eyes  to  the  chin  showed  weari- 
ness. She  did  not  want  to  tire  him,  but  she  could  not 
help  it.  Poor  little  woman.  She  was  married  to  a 
man  she  could  not  make  happy,  and  he  retaliated  by 
shutting  her  out  of  all  possible  joys.  They  had  only 
reached  the  first  station,  when,  without  a  word  to  her, 
he  started  to  go  out,  not  even  looking  back  to  see  if 
his  life  companion  were  coming.  I  watched  them  as 
they  entered  the  waiting-room,  he  striding  along  as 
if  there  were  no  woman  at  his  heels,  she  ever  watching 
his  face  to  anticipate  his  slightest  wish  or  change  of 
mood,  hungry  for  the  smallest  attention. 

Their  place  was  immediately  taken  by  another  hus- 


278  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

band  and  wife.  This  time,  too,  the  second  seat  in  front 
was  turned  so  as  to  accommodate  three  children  of  ages 
from  two  to  seven.  The  woman  was  large  and  sturdy, 
the  man  spare,  and,  perhaps,  consumptive.  Here  it 
was  the  woman  who  was  sliarp  and  impatient,  the  hus- 
band who  was  deprecatory  and  eager  to  please.  He  was 
blamed  for  a  number  of  discomforts  experienced,  as  it 
appeared,  since  they  had  left  the  farm  that  morning, 
for  things  that  had  been  left  behind  which  he  should 
have  brought,  for  things  bronght  which  should  have 
been  left  behind.  The  sun  was  too  hot,  and  he  should 
have  taken  a  covered  carriage.  It  was  not  going  to 
rain,  so  there  was  no  use  for  bringing  those  big  um- 
brellas. Occasionally  she  bent  forward  and  jerked 
some  child's  hat  forward  or  back,  pulled  the  little  ones 
this  way,  or  pushed  them  the  other  way.  Her  hus- 
band did  not  make  her  happy,  and  lier  children  were 
a  burden  to  her.  As  for  the  husband,  I  was  sure  that 
he  must  look  forward  to  his  death  as  a  happy  release. 
But  then,  there  were  the  children  who  would  be  left 
unprovided  for,  and  without  a  comforter,  if  he  were 
to  die. 

The  next  station  was  a  city  of  consequence,  and  the 
same  two  seats  were  occupied  by  a  husband  and  wife, 
evidently  in  very  prosperous  circumstances,  if  one  may 
judge  by  the  character  of  their  parcels.  This  man  and 
woman  were  of  a  rank  which  is  supposed  to  be  above 
rudeness  of  speech,  but  a  more  unpleasant  connection 
than  theirs  I  cannot  imagine.  Both  were  young,  and 
good-looking.  Both  were  bright  and  educated.  She 
began  by  telling  him  how  tlioughtless  he  was  of  her 
wishes  and  of  her  tastes.  He  was  taking  her  to  spend 
the  remainder  of  the  summer  at  a  place  she  detested, 
and  which  he  knew  she  detested.  It  was  oidy  because 
there  were  some  men  there  with  whom  he  could  drink 
and  play  cards.  So  it  was  he  always  sacrificed  her,  she 
said.  He  was  very  cool  in  his  replies,  and  so  much 
more  subdued  that  I  heard  very  little  of  them.     But  ] 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  279 

could  see  there  was  a  barb  behind  the  point  of  each 
sentence.  Probably  tliese  bickerifigs  were  daily  episodes 
of  their  private  married  life,  and  among  strangers  on 
a  railroad  train  they  saw  no  reason  for  restraining  them- 
selves. Finally  he  asked  her,  with  a  mockery  of  polite- 
ness, if  she  would  excuse  him  as  he  went  forward  for 
a  smoke.  She  answered  that  she  knew  very  well  that 
there  would  be  gambling  too;  at  which  he  took  off  his 
hat  to  her  with  a  most  graceful  effect,  and  went  on  his 
way.  The  woman  very  hastily  opened  her  bag,  and 
taking  out  a  novel,  made  a  brave  pretense  of  reading, 
but  when,  in  a  few  moments,  she  turned  her  head 
toward  the  window,  I  saw  her  eyes  were  full  of  tears 
of  vexation. 

I  thought  there  must  be  something  untoward  about 
those  particular  seats,  and  I  looked  about  me  for  a  new 
location.  I  found  it  in  the  rear  of  a  man  and  woman 
whose  faces  seemed  fairly  shining  with  amiability. 
Here  at  last  I  would  iind  my  happy  married  pair.  I 
took  my  seat  quietly,  but  the  man  and  woman  were  so 
much  absorbed  in  each  other  that  they  did  not  notice 
that  the  seat  behind  them  was  now  occupied.  I  heard 
the  man  tell  the  woman  how  long  he  had  hoped  for  this 
meeting,  and  her  reply  by  asking  what  he  thought  her 
husband  would  say  if  he  knew  they  were  together.  So 
it  appeared  they  represented  two  unhapj^y  homes, 
instead  of  exemplifjdng,  as  I  had  expected,  one  har- 
monious family.  My  heart  turned  sick.  I  made  such 
a  commotion  that,  after  a  frightened  look  behind  from 
each  pair  of  guilty  eyes,  they  carried  on  the  rest  of 
their  conversation  in  whispers. 

Once  arrived  in  New  York  I  spent  my  first  evening 
at  the  club,  and  fell  in  at  once  with  several  of  my 
old  friends.  After  they  had  concluded  that  I  had  no 
confidences  to  impart  as  to  the  reason  of  my  long  ab- 
sence they  left  me  to  the  silent  role  I  preferred,  and 
entertained  each  other  in  their  own  way.  Most  of  them 
were  married  men,  and  nothing  of  course  was  said  to 


280  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

reflect  upon  the  connubial  bliss  much  less  upon  the 
sanctity  of  their  particular  homes.  But  the  secrets  of 
no  other  fireside  were  respected.  I  heard  how  Mrs.  B. 
had  intercepted  a  letter  written  to  her  husband  by  a  for- 
mer governess,  that  for  a  time  there  was  a  loud  talk  of 
separation,  but  everything  had  been  finally  smoothed 
over  with  a  proper  regard  for  appearances.  Then  I 
was  informed  that  C.  had  quarreled  with  D.  for  visit- 
ing his  wife  so  preferably  duriug  his  absence,  and  had 
forbidden  him  the  house.  At  this,  it  seems,  however, 
C.'s  wife  showed  her  fangs,  and  by  certain  unpleasant 
threats  induced  her  husband  to  swallow  his  grievances. 
Another  of  my  companions  told  of  a  quarrel  between 
E.  and  his  wife,  overheard  from  the  hall  where  the 
narrator  was  left  waiting  by  some  servant's  mistake. 
There  was  no  scandal,  so  far  as  he  heard,  but  any 
amoimt  of  infelicity.  She  wanted  gaiety  and  show,  he 
did  not.  She  liked  the  people  he  hated ;  what  in- 
terested him  bored  her.  Neither  seemed  to  care  for 
the  other,  except  as  a  butt  for  sarcasm;  a  target  for 
slings  and  slurs. 

I  could  endure  no  more  of  this  depressing  conversa- 
tion from  representative  men  of  the  higher  society,  and 
I  went  out  into  the  street.  It  was  too  early  for  bed, 
and  I  took  a  walk  along  the  Bowery  and  side  streets. 
The  evening  being  very  warm,  families  had  moved  out 
in  full  force  upon  the  steps  and  sidewalks.  The  chil- 
dren barefooted,  and  clad  in  dirty  garments,  played  or 
fought,  it  was  hard  to  tell  which,  in  the  gutter.  Fathers 
in  soiled  shirt- sleeves  and  stocking  feet,  with  strong- 
smelling  pipes  in  their  mouths,  mothers  in  flowing  and 
shapeless  wrappers  of  what  were  once  prints,  but  now 
masses  of  indistinguishable  and  faded  colors,  and  older 
daughters  with  frowzy  hair  and  cross  faces,  occupied 
the  upper  steps.  The  husbands  and  wives  did  not  sit 
together,  or  appear  to  have  the  slightest  common  con- 
cern. They  looked  everywhere  except  at  each  other, 
and  seemed  to  think  of  everything  except  of  eacli  other. 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage.  281 

At  first  all  these  sidewalk  groups  looked  alike  to  me. 
Each  one  was  an  epitome  of  human  misery,  an  example 
of  the  wretchedness  of  the  poor  man's  home,  an  illus- 
tration of  how  separate  are  husbands  and  wives,  fathers 
and  mothers,  who  are  harassed  by  daily  want,  how  cut 
off  from  tender  and  joyful  relations  to  each  other  or 
to  their  children. 

But,  as  I  passed  along,  I  became  able  to  discriminate 
among  the  examples  of  misery  in  the  family  relations. 
In  some  cases  the  woman  had  grown  coarse  and  corpu- 
lent ;  her  femininity  had  been  worn  away.  She  was 
no  longer  a  wife,  but  a  rude  companion,  a  partner  with 
as  strong  an  arm,  as  rough  a  soul  as  the  man's.  In 
others  the  man  showed  marks  of  alcoholic  deterioration. 
His  hard  fate  had  driven  him  to  seek  the  false  sense  of 
power  which  liquor  gives,  and  in  his  cups  what  wife 
and  children  could  not  be  to  a  poor  man.  In  other 
cases  the  husband  showed  maudlin  fondness  for  female 
acquaintances  sitting  near  him,  giving  them  the  inter- 
est his  wife  should  have  claimed,  which  the  neighbors 
seem  to  take  quite  for  granted,  and  to  which  the  neg- 
lected wives  were  as  indifferent  as  the  neighbors.  I  saw 
no  case  where  the  wife  was  enjoying  the  attention  of 
any  man,  her  husband  or  another.  The  married  women 
had  too  generally  lost  their  attractiveness  through  the 
terrible  plague  of  poverty  to  be  able  to  tempt  men  to 
do  them  honor.  Their  voices  had  lost  all  the  gentle 
cadences  which  lovers  like  to  hear.  Their  lips  had  for- 
gotten how  to  smile,  far  more  to  kiss.  Their  hands, 
hard  and  callous,  would  have  felt  any  thing  but  pleas- 
ant to  the  touch  of  a  manly  gallant. 

Sometimes  a  father  would  hold  one  of  his  smaller 
children  on  his  knee  for  a  few  minutes,  or  a  wearied 
mother  would  be  seen  tossing  a  wizen-faced  baby  to 
and  fro  to  still  its  moans,  or  exposing  her  shapeless 
breasts  without  a  trace  oi  modesty,  seeking  to  soothe 
the  baby  moans  with  such  poor  nourishment  as  could 
be  found  there.  But  for  the  most  part,  the  parents 
3G 


282  An  Experiment  in  Marriage, 

seemed  as  indifferent  to  their  children  as  to  each 
other. 

-^hen  I  crossed  Broadway  and  walked  up  Canal 
street,  full  of  painted  women  and  wretched  girls  eager 
to  sell  themselves  to  the  lowest  of  men  for  money  or  for 
food,  and  then  to  Sixth  avenne,  and  np  to  Haymarket. 
I  looked  iuto  the  faces  of  what  shonld  have  been  pure 
and  happy  womanhood,  with  eyes  still  beautiful,  which 
should  have  stirred  the  heart  of  some  lover,  with  cheeks, 
pale  and  wan  for  all  their  disguise,  which  should  have 
been  pihowed  on  the  shoulder  of  affection.  Then  I 
dared  to  wonder  how  much  less  shameful,  how  mnch 
more  honorable  and  happy  would  have  been  their  lot 
if  niarried,  as  the  women  in  the  poor  tenement  region, 
with  such  homes  as  those/ 

I  slept  very  little  that  night,  and  the  next  morning 
made  my  way  to  the  Tombs  police  court,  and  listened 
to  the  charges  against  the  men  and  women  of  the  poorer 
classes.  A  wife  had  complained  of  her  husband  for 
beating  her ;  he  urged  as  extenuation  that  the  home 
she  made  for  him  was  no  better  than  a  pig-pen.  There 
were  half  a  dozen  cases  of  women,  most  of  them  mar- 
ried, who  were  sent  to  the  work-house  as  common 
drunkards,  curses  of  some  men's  lives.  Then  a  wife 
asked  that  her  husband  be  forced  to  support  her  and 
their  child.  She  told  me  her  story  very  graphically 
afterward.  Two  years  ago  he  had  married  her,  prom- 
ising that  they  would  be  the  happiest  pair  in  New 
York.  She  had  not  known  him  very  long  before  mar- 
riage. A  few  picnics,  a  dance  or  two,  and  three  even- 
ings at  the  theater,  had  furnished  all  their  courtship. 
He  was  always  well  dressed  when  she  saw  him  then, 
and  very  gentlemanly  in  his  manners.  She  had  thought 
he  was  the  grandest  man  in  the  world.  When  they 
were  married,  she  left  the  store  where  she  was  sales- 
woman ;  he  bought  some  furniture  on  the  installment 
plan,  and  everything  looked  well.  But  it  cost  a  good 
deal  to  buy  food,  and  there  were  no  more  entertain- 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  283 

ments  for  them.  He  had  no  money  to  spend  for  cigars 
and  beer,  as  long  as  he  kept  np  his  comfortable  style  of 
living,  and  was  obliged  to  spend  his  evenings  at  home, 
soon  afterward  beginning  to  sulk  and  m'>pe.  Then  he 
began  to  let  his  bills  go  unpaid,  and  to  spend  his  time 
and  money  on  his  own  amusement.  When  the  baby 
came  he  was  better  for  a  few  days,  but  the  new  care 
only  made  his  demeanor  more  disagreeable  and  his 
habits  more  dissolute  than  ever.  At  last  the  furniture 
was  taken  away,  and  then  the  rent  being  unpaid,  they, 
had  to  move  to  a  cheaper  tenement.  Now  he  was  not 
even  buying  her  enough  to  eat.  She  loved  him  no 
longer.  If  "she  could  but  get  along  imtil  the  baby  was 
old  enough  to  leave,  she  would  go  to  work  again. 
Women  who  wanted  marriage  could  have  it.  Every 
poor  married  woman  in  the  tenement  where  she  lived 
was  miserable,  and  so  were  their  husbands.  Marriage 
might  be  well  enough  for  the  rich,  but  it  was  not  meant 
for  poor  folks. 

For  a  week  I  hunted  up  old  friends  who  had  married, 
and  I  accepted  invitations  to  their  homes.  I  did  my 
best  to  worm  the  secrets  of  their  matrimonial  successes 
or  failures  from  them.  Some  I  appealed  to  as  a  bachelor 
who  wanted  advice.  Others  I  accused  of  looking  care- 
worn, and  thus  induced  them,  to  tell  me  more  than  they 
would  like  their  wives  to  have  known.  All  began  with 
"  Of  course  I  am  very  happily  married."  So  much  out 
of  chivalry  for  their  wives,  but  with  this  proviso  they 
spoke  very  freely.  The  common  course  of  feeling  on 
the  marriage  question  was  intensely  cynical.  Even 
those  who  I  believed  were  still  in  love  with  their  wives 
had  so  much  to  say  about  the  ill  success  of  their  neigh- 
bors, that  they  contributed  more  to  my  prejudice  against 
modern  marriage,  than  did  those  who  were  living  warn- 
ings. Aside  from  lack  of  what  they  had  thought  love 
would  give,  the  loss  of  liberty,  the  deprivation  of  for- 
mer companionship,  the  increase  of  care,  were  the  gen- 
eral objections.  Then  for  particular  instances,  there  was 


284:  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

the  man  who  had  pleased  his  taste  at  nineteen  and  had 
been  repenting  since  twenty -five,  and  the  man  who  had 
married  because  he  thought  a  girl  overwhelmingly  in 
love  with  him,  and  found  her  sentiment  wearing  out 
faster  than  her  trousseau.  There  were  the  husbands 
whose  wives  had  been  so  bound  up  in  the  care  of  children 
and  under  household  burdens  that  they  have  been  shut 
as  much  away  from  their  husbands,  as  if  the  heads  of 
the  famihes  were  nothing  but  agents  to  pay  the  rent  and 
buy  meat  and  groceries.  The  verdict  seemed  to  be  that 
the  sentiment  of  love  as  exhibited  in  courtship  did  not 
usually  long  outlast  the  marriage  ceremony.  Some- 
times it  was  the  husband's  fault ;  sometimes  the  wife's. 
More  common  were  the  cases  of  men  and  women  simply 
mismated,  or  who  had  lost  all  adaptability  to  each  other. 
In  the  instances  where  the  material  for  a  love  match 
seemed  to  exist  it  usually  happened  that  family  or 
financial  cares,  and  deprivation  of  social  pleasures,  pre- 
vented enjoyment  of  each  other.  There  were  of  course 
husbands  and  wives  whose  relations  were  ideal,  but  even 
their  happiness  was  clouded  by  the  misery  they  could 
not  but  see  all  about  them.  They  must  needs  weep  for 
others  between  their  smiles  for  each  other.  They  could 
not  but  feel  that  joy  was  almost  out  of  place  in  a  state 
of  society  where  selfishness  was  the  rule  of  life. 

Exactly  at  what  point  I  experienced  a  change  of  will 
I  cannot  tell.  All  that  I  can  say  is  that  one  morning 
I  awoke  with  the  conviction  that  if,  by  any  labors  of 
Hercules  I  could  make  my  way  back  to  Grape  Yalley, 
and  to  Lydia,  I  would  shake  from  my  feet  the  dust  of  a 
civilization  which  has  made  a  failure  both  of  the  indus- 
trial and  social  relations.  Unfortunately,  however,  I 
was  in  possession  of  no  data  which  could  enable  me  to 
reach  Grape  Yalley  unassisted.  My  only  chance  lay  in 
meeting  Gillette.  He  made  frequent  business  trips  to 
New  York  and  was  accustomed  to  stop  at  the  Fifth 
Avenue  hotel.  So  much  I  knew.  I  calmly  resolved 
to  go  to  that  hotel  and  stay  until  the  fortunate  day 


An  Experiment  in  Marriage,  285 

when  I  should  see  his  name  on  the  register,  whether 
it  should  be  this  summer  or  in  the  fall,  or  in  another 
winter.  When  I  had  found  him  I  determined  to  beg 
him  to  take  me  back  with  him  to  Grape  Valley  and 
to  happiness.  He  could  not  resist  such  arguments  as 
I  should  use.  He  might  remind  me  that  a  man  wlio, 
having  his  choice  between  good  and  evil,  chose  the 
latter,  deserved  to  suffer.  But  the  tide  of  my  elo- 
quence would  overwhelm  him. 

As  soon  as  I  had  eaten  my  breakfast  I  began  packing 
my  trunks.  In  a  few  minutes  they  were  on  their  way 
to  the  "  Fifth  Avenue."  Then  I  visited  my  lawyer  and 
arranged  my  business  affairs,  leaving  strict  orders  to 
convert  all  my  property  into  cash  and  to  send  all  the 
proceeds  to  my  address  at  St.  Louis.  I  had  determined 
to  devote  all  my  property  to  increasing  the  number  of 
colonists  at  Grape  Valley.  I  was  not  content  in 
achieving  happiness  for  myseK,  while  millions  were 
suffering  in  ignorance  from  the  ills  of  a  civilization 
wholly  barbarous.  As  soon  as  I  reached  the  hotel  I 
seated  myself  in  the  reading-room  and  began  to  write 
this  little  sketch  of  my  recent  experiences.  My  long 
fight  against  the  light  and  my  final  conversion  to  the 
truth  may  not  be  without  good  effect  if  published  to 
the  world.  I  only  hope  that  my  friend  the  editor  will 
deign  to  look  at  it  when  put  into  his  hands  and 

It  is  decided.  Fate  is  with  me.  I  had  just  written 
the  lines  above  when  a  hand  was  laid  upon  my  arm. 
Looking  up  impatiently — a  man  is  always  provoked  at 
being  interrupted  just  as  he  is  rounding  a  sentence — I 
saw  Gillette  himself. 

"  I  hope  you  are  not  sorry  to  see  me,"  he  said  with  a 
surprised  air.  Then  I  recovered  my  senses  and,  leap- 
ing to  my  feet,  I  wrung  his  hand  with  fervor  enough 
to  more  than  satisfy  him. 

"  Sorry  ? "  I  exclaimed.  "  I  am  the  happiest  man  in 
the  world." 

"  So  anxious  to  bid  me  good-bye  ?    It  was  a  mere 


286  An  Experiment  in  Marriage. 

chance  that  I  saw  you  at  all.  I  had  j3assed  through 
the  room  and  was  just  at  the  door  when  I  happened  to 
look  back  and  saw  you  writmg  here." 

"  You  are  going  back  this  morning  —  back  to  Grape 
Yalley?"!  cried. 

"  Yes ;  Yinton  has  been  gone  a  month  you  know, 
and  I  had  my  work  to  do^  besides  what  I  had  laid  out 
for  liim." 

"  And  may  I  go  with  you  VI  asked,  and  waited  in 
an  agony  of  suspense  for  his  reply. 

^'  For  another  visit  ?  "  he  smiled. 

"No,  for  life.     I  am  a  convert.     Don't  refuse  me." 

"Kefuse  you  indeed,"  he  replied.  "I  am  only  too 
happy  to  accept  you.  How  long  will  it  take  you  to 
get  ready  ? " 

"  My  trunks  are  in  the  baggage-room  now.  My  af- 
fairs are  all  settled,"  I  answered  with  wild  gaiety.  "  I 
only  want  to  finish  this  letter  and  despatch  it  by  a 
messenger.    Then  I  am  ready." 

THE   END. 


HUDSON  IIIYM  SMIBS,  No.  2. 


^he  f^rineess  ^ 


^OF^ 


^  .  T^ontserrat. 

A  STRANGE  NARRATIVE  OF  ADVENTURE  AND 
PERIL  ON  LAND  AND  SEA, 


BY 


WILLIAM    DRYSDALE, 

Author  of  "In  Sunny  Lands,"  Etc.,  Etc. 


CHAP. 

I.    My  Adventures  Begin, 
Stranded  in  London. 
A  Voyage  to  the  West  Indies?. 
A  Night  in  a  Hurricane. 
I  Find  a  Shipwrecked  Family. 
A  Ten-Day  Courtship. 
Alone  Again. 
A  Girl  Worth  Having. 
The  Brig  Returns. 
My  Boy  Joe. 

11.  The  French  Schooner, 

12.  A  Mysterious  Crew. 

13.  The  Captain  Falls  into  a  Trap. 

14.  Landed  on  a  Desolate  Island. 

15.  Kidnapped  and  Marooned. 


CH.\P. 

16. 
17. 
18. 

19- 


22. 

23- 
24. 

25. 

26. 

a 

29. 
30- 


The  Hermit  of  Tuesday  Island. 

What  Joe  Found  in  the  Closet. 

Plans  for  Escape. 

The  Congo  Uance. 

The  Hermit's  Ruined  House. 

Von  Diemen's  Strange  Banquet. 

Signals  by  Fire  and  Water. 

A  Pair  of  Martinique  Earrings. 

The  Fire- Boat 

Preparing  the  Signals. 

The  Fire  on  the  Mountain-Top. 

Marie  Comes  to  the  Rescue. 

The  Story  of  the  Search. 

We  quit  Tuesday  Island. 

Lime-Groves  and  Happine.ss. 


vO  EADERS  of  Mr.  Drysdale's  descriptions  in  the  New  York  Times, 
xl  a^d  elsewhere,  of  the  West  Indies  and  West  Indian  Life,  need  not 
^  be  told  that  this  book  is  more  than  usually  entertaining. 
For  sale  by  Newsdealers  and  Booksellers  generally  or  sent  postpaid  to 
any  address  on  receipt  of  the  price,  50  cents  paper,  (or  $1  cloth),  by  the 
publishers, 

ALBAKY  BOO)C  COAVFAKY. 

36  STATe  ST..         4*#-         ALBANY.   N.  Y. 


